TODAY’S COLLEGE GAMES TO WATCH

GAME OF THE DAY Oklahoma (2-0) at Miami (3-0) TV: Channels 2 and 8, 12:30 p.m. PDT

They don’t get any bigger than this, folks. Oklahoma is going into this game as the defending national champion and ranked No. 1, and Miami is going in ranked No. 2. This game at the Orange Bowl--the site of Oklahoma’s national championship victory over then-No. 1 Penn State last New Year’s Day--is being billed as a national championship showdown. But remember, Miami beat Oklahoma last season at Norman, Okla., 27-14, and the Sooners rebounded to win the national title, anyway. That was the only game the Sooners lost last season, and they haven’t forgotten about it. Oklahoma has won its first two games this season by a combined score of 101-3. Miami’s star quarterback, Vinny Testaverde, isn’t awed by that. He said: “Nothing intimidates this team. A lot of players have gone from this school to the Raiders, and nobody intimidates the Raiders. We like to think it starts here.” Testaverde passed for 270 yards against the Sooners the last time out.

THE MIDWEST Purdue (1-1) at Notre Dame (0-2) TV: Channels 7 and 10, noon

Lou Holtz is charming, sure, and his Notre Dame team has looked pretty good in its first two starts, but Irish fans are looking for a little more from the new coach--like a victory. The 0-2 start is only the third in this century for Notre Dame. And Notre Dame has never started 0-3. So the pressure will be on the Irish when a capacity crowd gathers at Notre Dame Stadium for the 33rd straight sellout in this annual matchup with Purdue of the Big Ten. The Boilermakers, led by freshman quarterback Jeff George, a prize recruit from Warren Central High School in Indianapolis, are not off to much of a start, either. They beat Ball State but lost to Pitt, 41-26, at home last Saturday.

THE PACIFIC 10 Oregon (2-1) at Nebraska (2-0) The Ducks will have their hands full against the fourth-ranked Cornhuskers when they play before the 145th straight sellout crowd of more than 76,000 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Neb. Last year, when the game was also played at Lincoln, Nebraska rolled to a 63-0 victory, allowing the Ducks just 106 yards in total offense. Oregon has an outstanding quarterback in Chris Miller, but Nebraska Coach Tom Osborne notes that his secondary has been playing well, adding that with the help of a strong defensive front, “Nobody has had a world of time to throw the ball on us yet.”

Washington State (1-2) at Arizona State (2-0) The Sun Devils are going into their conference opener undefeated and face a Cougar team coming off a defeat by Cal. Washington State Coach Jim Walden has returned to his two-quarterback system, using senior Ed Blount and freshman Timm Rosenbach. Arizona State’s defense gave up 2 touchdowns and 17 points in its first game but then shut out Southern Methodist.

Arizona (3-0) at Colorado (0-3) Don’t let the records fool you. Colorado’s last two losses were close, 32-30 at Oregon and 13-10 at Ohio State. And Colorado is the team that traveled to Tucson last year and stunned the then-undefeated Wildcats, 14-13. Colorado leads the series with Arizona, 12-0. Arizona Coach Larry Smith has an interesting perspective on this game: “The Colorado game is just like a conference game for us because of the fact we do not play Washington this year. If it were to come down to Washington and ourselves in the Pac-10, they would go to overall records. Washington has only one nonconference game remaining, and it’s against Bowling Green.”

TODAY’S COLLEGE FOOTBALL SCHEDULE, PAGE 13