Irish Volunteer for National Exam

GAME OF THE WEEK

Long-lost Notre Dame looks to get back into the football business with this tester against defending national champion Tennessee, which has its own motivation.

Despite an early-season loss to Florida and a No. 5 position in this week’s bowl championship series rankings, Tennessee is very much in the title chase.

Quarterback Tee Martin, who struggled early because of nagging injuries, appears to be rounding into shape at the right time, and tailback Jamal Lewis had 146 yards rushing in last week’s 30-7 victory over hapless South Carolina, including a 70-yard touchdown run.

And, let’s face it, this is Tennessee’s month. Since 1985, the Vols are a staggering 53-2 in November, the only defeats a 1996 brain cramp against Memphis and a 1990 loss to a team that used to fancy itself a football factory: Yep, Notre Dame.

That Notre Dame defeat was also Tennessee’s last nonconference loss in Knoxville.

What can you say about the Irish? They could easily be 8-0 and heading to Knoxville with a national title on the line, or 2-6 and covering Coach Bob Davie’s back.

Davie’s three-year run has been interesting. In 1997, he won his debut, lost four in a row, then closed with five wins. In ‘98, Notre Dame opened 1-1, won eight consecutive and lost its last two.

This year, the Irish have won four in a row after a 1-3 start.

Yet, last week’s outing against Navy nearly sank Davie’s ship.

Notre Dame needed a dead-eyed official’s spot on a fourth-and-10 completion with 1:20 left to extend the game-winning drive that downed Navy, 28-24, on Jarious Jackson’s 16-yard scoring pass to Jay Johnson.

Navy, for what it’s worth, was coming off a loss to the Akron Zips.

Good news for Notre Dame: It may have unearthed a star of the future in freshman tailback Julius Jones, who rushed for 100 yards against Navy.

Bad news: Tennessee has yet to allow a rushing touchdown this season.

* Line: Tennessee by 9 1/2

FIVE THINGS TO LOOK FOR

1. A bowl drive. As bad as it has been, the Pac-10 still should be able to fill its five bowl slots. Teams need six victories to qualify, seven in the case of Arizona and USC, which play 12 games.

The conference’s bowl tie-ins include the Rose, Holiday, Sun, Aloha and Oahu. Eight Pac-10 schools are competing for five spots; only Washington State and UCLA have been eliminated. At 5-3, Stanford, Washington, Oregon and Oregon State need one win each to qualify, Arizona (6-3) needs one, California and Arizona State, both 4-4, need two and USC (3-5) needs to win its last four.

2. Ron Dayne vs. Drew Brees. The winner of Saturday’s Wisconsin-Purdue game emerges as the candidate likely to challenge Georgia Tech’s Joe Hamilton for this year’s Heisman Trophy. With 5,959 yards, Dayne needs 321 against Purdue and Iowa to eclipse the mark Ricky Williams set last season at Texas.

3. An Oregon State moment. The Beavers can become bowl qualified this weekend with a win over California at Corvallis. Oregon State has not been to a bowl since a 34-7 loss to Michigan in the 1965 Rose Bowl. The Beavers’ last bowl victory was a 6-0 decision over Villanova in the 1962 Liberty Bowl.

4. More grim news from the NCAA office. This week, half of the Pac-10’s teams rank 81st or worse nationally in total defense, anchored by Stanford at 114th, last among Division I-A schools. The bottom five are Arizona State, 81st; Washington, 97th; Oregon, 101st; UCLA, 110th, and Stanford, 114th.

5. An NCAA record for Minnesota defensive back Tyrone Carter, who needs seven tackles against Penn State to break the record of 481 held by Tulane’s Mike Staid, set from 1991-94. Joe Paterno said this week that Carter is as good a defensive back as he has faced, which is saying something when you consider that Paterno is in his 50th year at Penn State, 34th as head coach.

RATING THE TV GAMES

**** Whoa, Nellie

*** Fix the car tomorrow

** OK to watch golf infomercials

* For WWF scouts only

*

*** No. 20 Ohio State (6-3) at No. 19 Michigan State (6-2). 9 a.m., ESPN

Michigan State denied request to play Ohio State women’s rugby team instead.

* Line: Michigan State by 5 1/2.

** Minnesota (5-3) at No. 2 Penn State (9-0), 9 a.m., ESPN2

Nittany Lions three lumps away from Sugar Bowl bid.

* Line: Penn State by 14.

*** Colorado (5-3) at No. 6 Kansas State (8-0), 9:30 a.m., FSW2

Biggest game for Gary Barnett since that loss to the first-year Washington coach.

* Line: Kansas State by 16.

** Southern Mississippi (5-3) at Memphis (3-5), noon, FSW

Another tough game in Conference USA’s black and “blues” division.

* Line: Southern Mississippi by 6 1/2.

** Vanderbilt (5-3) at Florida (7-1), 12:30 p.m., Channel 2

Run-happy Spurrier spent week installing Lombardi’s power sweep.

* Line: Florida by 28 1/2.

** Washington (5-3) at Arizona (6-3), 12:30 p.m., Channel 7

Washington seizes psychological edge by showing up in Penn State uniforms.

* Line: Arizona by 4 1/2.

** Arkansas (5-2) at No. 23 Mississippi (6-2), 3 p.m., ESPN2

A nice showdown between SEC West schools with no shot at winning the title.

* Line: Arkansas by 1.

** California (4-4) at Oregon State (5-3), 3:30 p.m., Channel 9

Experts set up booths to explain to Beavers what it means to be “bowl qualified.”

* Line: Oregon State by 8 1/2.

** Wyoming (4-3) at Utah (6-2), 6 p.m., ESPN2

Mountain West rejects marketing man’s promotional suggestion of “Salt Lick vs. Salt Lake.”

* Line: Utah by 8 1/2.

** Washington State (2-6) at Oregon (5-3), 7 p.m., FSW

Don’t be surprised if a visiting Charger quarterback currently on suspension gets tossed from game for excessive verbal assaults on Oregon players.

* Line: Oregon by 15 1/2.