5 THINGS TO LOOK FOR

1. Central Florida at Nebraska may look like road kill, but we’re not so sure. Marshall gets all the ink for its smooth transition to Division I-A, but Central Florida is another newcomer on the rise. In only its second year of Division I-A, the independent Golden Knights took Ole Miss to overtime in Week 1 and dropped a 33-31 heartbreaker to South Carolina. With Dan Marino on the skids, Central Florida’s Daunte Culpepper might be the best quarterback in the state.

2. Can you believe it? San Diego State is actually playing a Saturday game, traveling to Seattle to take on No. 3 Washington. No program in the country has been kicked around more by television. Last Friday, San Diego State was forced to play an 11:30 a.m. sunrise service game against Navy. Too bad only soap opera watchers had the chance to see one of the nation’s most exciting players in senior receiver Az-zahir Hakim, the nation’s leader in all-purpose yardage at 279 yards per game.

3. “Things to Look for” was so excited about Prairie View’s chances of ending its NCAA-record 69-game losing streak it jumped the gun by a week. Prairie View hosts NAIA school Langston this Saturday and, yes, the upset prediction stands. The Panthers lost to Langston last year, 37-20, but have since hired away its coach, Greg Johnson. Prepare the balloons.

4. After taking the pipe in its opener against Toledo, Purdue hosts Notre Dame in West Lafayette. Boilermaker defenders can’t wait to intercept the incoming plays from the Irish’s offensive coordinator, Jim Colletto, Purdue’s coach last year. “I sense they want to play extremely well against their ex-coach,” first-year Purdue Coach Joe Tiller said.

5. Expect better days from the Big Ten because, frankly, things couldn’t get much worse. Last weekend, Toledo blitzed Purdue, Wake Forest whacked Northwestern, Southern Mississippi whipped Illinois, and Wisconsin needed a last-minute touchdown to beat, gulp, Boise State. No wonder the conference hasn’t won a national title since 1968.

THE REST

* Temple (+37) at Penn St., 10 a.m.

* Rutgers (+19 1/2) at Navy, 4 p.m.

* Clemson (+2 1/2) at N. Carolina St., 9 a.m.

* Wake Forest (+13) at East Carolina, 3 p.m.

* Maryland (33 1/2) at Florida St., 12:30 p.m..

* South Carolina (+6) at Georgia, 12:30 p.m..

* Illinois (+6) at Louisville, 12:30 p.m..

* Rice (-3 1/2) at Tulane, 8 p.m.

* Missouri (+2 1/2) at Kansas, 9:30 a.m.

* Memphis (+19) at Michigan St., 10 a.m.

* Cent. Florida (+43 1/2) at Nebraska, 1:30 p.m.

* Bowling Green (+38) at Ohio St., 1:30 p.m.

* Tulsa (+24 1/2) at Iowa, 2 p.m.

* Duke (+17) at Northwestern, 2 p.m.

* Iowa St. (+9) at Minnesota, 4 p.m

* Fresno St. (+8) at Oklahoma St., 4 p.m

* Arkansas (-6 1/2) vs. SMU at Shreveport, La., 5 p.m.

* Utah (-4) at TCU, 6 p.m..

* Oregon at Nevada, 4 p.m.

* Wisconsin (-15 1/2) at San Jose St., 3:30 p.m.

U* Colorado St. (-14 1/2) at Utah St., 6 p.m..

* Ala. Birmingham (+32) -at Arizona, 7 p.m.