European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 26, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 22 the stars and Stripe saturday october 26, 1991 today s College football Southern Cal s dismal season could be fixed at notre Dame by the associated press it has been a dismal year for Southern Cal Drifting along at 3-3 and far removed from the Pac-10 Lead and the Rose bowl picture. Often however teams in that woebegone condition can be landmines for ranked schools with big postseason plans. That s especially the Case when they play traditional rivals a and us has no fiercer traditional rival than notre Dame. The trojans travel to South Bend saturday with a Chance to wipe out All the bad memories against the Southern col 3-3 at notre dome 6-1 6 . On seb Tyvand it 7 55 . On an to no stole 6-0 at Clemsen 3-1-1 9 30 . On seb Tyvand 10 45 . On an to no. 5 Irish. It could be a season maker for Southern Cal and a season area scr for notre Dame. No. 4 Michigan gets the weekend started at Minnesota on Friday night in a game rescheduled because of the world series. In other games involving ranked teams saturday its no. I Florida state at leu no. 2 Miami at Arizona Oregon at no. 3 Washington West Virginia at no. 8 Penn state Missouri at no. 9 Nebraska and san Jose state at no. 10 California also it s no. 11 Iowa at Purdue no. 12 North Carolina state visits no. 19 Clemson no. 13 Texas a amp a faces Houston no. 14 Ohio state takes on Michigan state no. La Colorado plays Kansas state no. 17 Illinois at Northwestern no. 18 Syracuse at Rutgers no. 20 East Carolina plays no. 23 Pittsburgh no. 21 Oklahoma plays Kansas no. 22 Baylor goes against thu and no. 24 Georgia plays Kentucky four ranked teams a no. B Florida no. 7 Alabama no. Is Tennessee and no. 25 Arkansas a have the weekend off. Us has lost eight straight to notre Dame and trails the series 35-23-4, adding fuel to the trojans fire for saturdays game. The Irish Are 13-Point favourites a How Many times was the National championship basically at stake in this game a asked . Simpson who won the a Lisman trophy at us in 1968. A More times than not the underdog would win or tie or do some Irish quarterback Rick Mirer 3 will try his Best to prevent another upset in the famed Jisc notre Dame series. Thing to spoil it for the other  Simpson played in two of these games. He remembers the trojans going into South Bend As 10-Point underdogs against the no. 1 Irish in 19b7 and winning. That helped us to the National title and a year later the trojans were 9-0 when notre Dame spoiled their perfect season by tying them in los Angeles. Now an Abc broadcaster Simpson Stilt feels strongly about the rivalry so much so that he asked the network not to use him on saturday telecast. Florida state and Miami continue to Mark time until their anticipated no. 1 is. No. 2 showdown a provided each arrives at their nov. 16 meeting intact. Both Are on the Road saturday Florida state facing 3-3 leu and Miami playing at 2-4 Arizona. Miami has won 12 straight and 61 of its last by games. But the Arizona desert has not been kind to the hurricanes who lost fiesta bowl dates there in 1985 and 1987. Quot it s a very difficult place to play a Miami coach Dennis Erickson said. Quot its got great atmosphere for the Home team. They re probably 21 Points or More better when they play at Home for some reason. I get a Little shaky when i Start saying 21  Arizona can use the help coming off a Bye week following losses of 54-0 to Washington and 54-14 to Urcla. The ranked teams Are hoping for an easier weekend than they went through last week. Eight of the 17 games involving ranked teams last saturday were decided by a touchdown or less. One of the closest Calls involved Nebraska which needed two fourth Quarter touchdowns for a 38-31 Victory Over Kansas state a it was a great learning experience something that was uncharacteristic of last years team a Junior safety Steve Carmer said. A if that had happened to last years team i have a feeling that we might not have pulled it out. It shows a lot of character on this team to come Back like  Nebraska lost three of its last four games a year ago but is 5-1 this , . State fight for the top by Rick Scoppe Al sports writer Clemson has t looked like the nation s top ranked defense Early in its last three games. Each of the tigers last three toes have scored on its first Possession to put no. 19 Clemson in a Hole. Virginia marched 6 1 Yards in 10 plays for a touchdown Oil its first series two weeks ago. A week earlier Georgia hit a Field goal on its opening drive while Georgia tech drove 84 Yards in Only five plays for a i d on sept. 28. Quot it shocks you and wakes you up a coach Ken Hatfield said. Quot it humbles you a Little  it s no coincidence that Over that three game Span the tigers Are 1-1-1, with the Only Victory a 9-7 Squeaker Over Georgia tech. Georgia whipped the tigers 27-12, while Clemson had to rally to tie Virginia 20-20. Clemson 3-1-1 Overall and 1-0-1 in the Atlantic coast conference will try to Correct the problem saturday against no. 12 North Carolina state in a key league showdown. The Wolf pack is h-0 and leads the league with a 3-0 Mark. , stale has been impressive in the first Quarter outscoring its foes 32-0. But the Wolf pack has scored on its opening Possession Only once in its six games. A i got about three or four things we re going to try to do a Hatfield said about his plans. Quot there a a couple of things we re going to do better. That i definitely know. Quot i be got inklings that May have contributed to Why we have not played As Well Early. We re going to change a couple of things in our routine. To try to see it we can t get More focus on the Early part of the  it has t just been the first Possession. Clemson has been outscored 27-7 in the first period in its first five games. After that however the tigers have been Tough allow ing just 34 Points. A it s got to go Back to mental preparation or something a said senior Middle guard Rob Bodine who leads the tigers with 49 tackles including 13 for 66 Yards in losses. Quot you kind of walk out and maybe someone s going to make a big Plav for you instead of everybody just playing hard together. Quot sometime in the first half the defense kinds of wakes up and says of its time to play. This is embarrassing Quot when you set your expectations As High As we did and they kind of walked Down our throats the last three games of course it s embarrassing. That a just not