FIVE THINGS TO LOOK FOR

1. Steve Spurrier vs. Lou Holtz. Hire a lip reader, grab some couch and watch two of the game’s zaniest sideline practitioners face off when Florida plays at South Carolina. Count how many times Florida Coach Spurrier flings his visor in disgust versus how often Holtz bull-charges a referee in anger over a call. Appreciate the gamesmanship between, quite possibly, the two best college coaches in the business. If Florida gets a lead, will Spurrier keep putting points on the board to impress the bowl championship series judges?

2. Joe Paterno’s learning curve continues. Penn State has won three in a row after an 0-4 start and plays the role of Big Ten spoiler this weekend when it goes to Illinois. Not only has the 74-year-old Paterno changed his thinking on playing freshmen quarterbacks, having finally turned over the offense to Zack Mills, the Penn State coach also is embracing the shotgun formation. Asked at his news conference whether he is getting to like the shotgun, Paterno quipped, “What caliber?”

3. Prickly games for title contenders. Seven of the top 10 schools in this week’s BCS rankings play games they could lose: Kansas State hasn’t won at Nebraska since 1968, but the Wildcats (4-4) look more like the team that lost to Oklahoma by a point than the one that lost four consecutive games. Boston College hasn’t beaten Miami since Doug Flutie’s 1984 fling, but the last three games at Chestnut Hill have been decided by three points or less. Also: Texas A&M; might pose a threat at Oklahoma, Florida could fall at South Carolina, DeShaun Foster-less UCLA has a chance to wreck Oregon’s Pacific 10 title dreams, Washington is no cinch-bet at Oregon State nor is Washington State at Arizona State.

4. Texas Tech putting basketball Coach Bob Knight in charge of crowd control. Last week, a mini-melee broke out in Lubbock after Texas Tech defeated Texas A&M;, 12-0. Mike McKinney, Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s chief of staff and the father of an Aggie player, required eight stitches to close a cut above his right eye after getting sucker punched. Texas Tech is at Oklahoma State this week, but crowd control will be a huge issue when Oklahoma comes to town Nov. 17. Who better than Knight to set college kids straight on how to comport themselves in public?

5. Rutgers rut. The Scarlet Knights host Pittsburgh one week after an 80-7 loss to West Virginia. Amazingly, first-year Rutgers Coach Greg Schiano could only classify the defeat as “one” of his team’s worst efforts (along with 61-0 against Miami and 50-0 against Virginia Tech). The Big East has already announced it will throw Temple out of the league, but it ought to take major league baseball’s cue and pursue contraction of two teams. Any chance Rutgers could merge with the Montreal Expos? The news is not all bleak, though. Rutgers hosts 0-8 California on Nov. 23.