Michigan Next for Powlus : College football: Sophomore quarterback leads Notre Dame against Wolverines, who are without four injured starters, including Wheatley.

You know it’s Michigan-Notre Dame week when . . .

--Irish Coach Lou Holtz spends the first few days fretting about his offensive line, his running backs, his defensive line, his kicking game, his game plan, New York cable television ratings and his pronunciation of the Michigan second-string tailback’s name.

--Michigan Coach Gary Moeller tweaks Holtz on the annual list of grave concerns. “After listening to Coach Holtz, I wasn’t sure they had any players at all,” he said. “But after watching the film, they have some players out there.”

--Key Michigan players, among them star running back Tyrone Wheatley, are out with injuries . . . but none of the Irish seem to care.

--NBC needs smelling salts.

--The outcome could influence an entire season in the polls.

Michigan-Notre Dame week is many things, but it is never boring. Since 1978, the teams have met 14 times and nine of the games have been decided by seven points or fewer. And if you add the scores of the 14 games, the teams are separated by a half-point average: 20.1 for Michigan, 19.6 for Notre Dame.

Today shouldn’t be much different as the fifth-ranked Wolverines travel to third-ranked Notre Dame. The Irish have won five of the last seven games and tied another, but rarely are the victories easy or without their share of occasional controversy. Remember 1992, the year Holtz got roasted for playing for a 17-17 tie at home?

This time, everyone is talking about sophomore quarterback Ron Powlus, who started for the first time last week and threw for four touchdowns in a 42-15 victory over Northwestern. Holtz later called it, “a nice job,” and added that he wasn’t crazy about Powlus’ mechanics and consistency.

In other words, Holtz was thrilled.

Powlus, who missed last season because of two broken collarbones, is trying to do the impossible--keep a low profile in a high-profile position. That’s hard to do when some people are already linking his name with the Heisman Trophy.

Powlus has lower expectations, such as playing two consecutive games without hurting himself.

“What I can take away from (the Northwestern game) is that it’s still the same game I played a couple of years ago,” he said.

Powlus is sound but Michigan isn’t. If you’re keeping count--and they are at Ann Arbor--the Wolverines have lost four starters to injury, guard Joe Marinaro, wide receiver Walter Smith, the heralded Wheatley and most recently, outside linebacker Matt Dyson.

Ben Huff is expected to replace Dyson and Eddie Davis will fill in again for Wheatley, whose separated right shoulder will keep him out of practice until next week. If Davis struggles, look for sophomore Tim Biakabutuka (or “Biakapa-tutu . . . Mr. B . . . Captain B,” as Holtz called him).

Whoever it is, Notre Dame isn’t going to change its basic defense.

“I don’t think it will make much of a difference,” said Irish linebacker Jeremy Nau. “Michigan is Michigan. It’s the guys he runs behind. I could run behind that (offensive line) and get three, four yards a carry.

“They just reload. They’re just like us, they don’t retool.”