Fresno State has become this season's crazy cousin of college football, threatening to crash the Bowl Championship Series party, making noise and drawing stares with season-opening wins over Colorado, Oregon State and Wisconsin.

They are watching in Louisville. The Cardinals are 3-0, too, but instead of charging into the national picture they've remained the No. 26 vote getter in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll for the past two weeks. In fact, they've actually been poised to become a consistent Top 25 presence for much of the past two seasons.

	John L. Smith and Louisville could crack the Top 25 with a win over Illinois.

"You look at what Fresno's doing, and it gives a lot of us hope," Louisville coach John L. Smith said. "They've played some good people and beaten them. That's the difference between them and us. We haven't played anybody yet."

That will change Saturday. For Louisville, Illinois is somebody. To the Cardinals, the Illini represent a solid team from a power conference in a nationally televised (ESPN) opportunity to, in the words of junior quarterback Dave Ragone, "make some noise."

The game may be unique in college football in this most unusual of times. The Cards and Illini were scheduled to meet last Saturday, then were able to renegotiate a game for this Saturday, thanks to the cooperation of Michigan, which bumped its scheduled game against the Illini back a week.

"For us, it was like a bye week, but we had the intensity of preparing for a game," Smith said. "There's no question that will be good for this team."

The Cardinals had a chance in last year's Liberty Bowl to finish 10-2 and become a part of the national consciousness heading into this season, but lost that game to Colorado State.

They're viewing Saturday as another chance to edge into a higher ratings bracket when they visit Illinois in search of their eighth consecutive regular-season win. After opening the season with less-than-inspiring victories over New Mexico State, Kentucky and Western Carolina, Smith said "we're ready for a real test."

The teams have met twice since Smith came to Louisville in 1998, and both games have been offensive shows. This one figures to hold to that form as a competition between two highly regarded quarterbacks. Kurt Kittner came to Illinois the same year that Dave Ragone went to Louisville, but they've taken much different tracks. Kittner, now a senior, was the first true freshman to start at quarterback for the Illini in 42 years. He threw 24 touchdown passes as a sophomore and last season ranked 27th nationally in passing yards and 48th in total offense. He'll be making his 31st career start on Saturday.

Ragone, a 6-4, 250-pound junior, took a slower route. After waiting three years to become a starter as a senior at St. Ignatius High in Cleveland, he came to Louisville and started waiting behind the NCAA's all-time passing yards leader, Chris Redman.

He redshirted, then sat on the bench as a freshman. But he made the most of his chance when it came in his sophomore season a year ago, ranking 14th nationally in passing efficiency while throwing for 27 touchdowns and just 11 interceptions. He enters Saturday's game as the nation's leader in passing yards with 886.

"He was Conference USA player of the year last year, and because of that we may expect too much of him sometimes," Smith said. "We forget he's only played two years of college football and only played one year of high school ball before that. He's really starting to blossom and get better, but he's still making some mistakes he needs to improve. . . . Next year could be a special year for him. There's no telling how good he's going to get."

In addition to quarterbacks, the game also will showcase a pair of wide receivers likely bound for the National Football League. Illinois senior Brandon Lloyd is averaging 152 receiving yards per game with a pair of touchdowns and a 20.3-yard per-catch average. Louisville senior Deion Branch has caught 19 passes in three games and is averaging 14.9 yards per catch with a pair of touchdowns.

But it's on the ground where the game likely will be decided. The Illini have yet to get their ground game running, averaging just 89 yards per game on the ground. Louisville has been unable to stop the run consistently, allowing 212.7 yards per game to opponents.

Still, Smith said the time has come for his team to face a legitimate test.

"It's good to play somebody good," Smith said. "We get to find out if we're worth a darn."

Smith came to Louisville after the Cardinals had suffered a 1-10 season and lost his first two games before taking his team to Champaign and earning his first win at the school. Since then, he has directed the program on a steady climb, and has won 13 of his past 16 regular-season games. His teams have established a reputation for second-half stinginess, outscoring opponents 62-3 after halftime so far this season. Now, the Cardinals will go to work to try to enhance their national reputation.

"Hopefully, we're on our way to achieving some consistency," Smith said. "What we have to do is continue to upgrade our schedule, and if we can do that, the consistency will come."

Around Conference USA

Army
The postponement of Army's game against Buffalo last week was the first of an Army game since the Army-Navy game in 1963 was pushed back a week after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. ... Negotiations are ongoing to reschedule the game against Buffalo, but no decision has been reached. ... The Black Knights head to Birmingham, Ala., this week to face UAB. ... Second-year coach Todd Berry said that while last week at West Point was at times emotional, life on the military installation went on as normal. "I'm sure all around the country is difficult to focus, and that's something we've asked our players to do and to be honest it's something they need to do," Berry said. "These guys need to learn to focus and performs in disconcerting times. From the start, we continued to practice, we continued to go to class. I'm not going to say that it hasn't been somber and solemn before and after practice, but while we've been practicing we've been working h! ard and trying to get better."

Cincinnati
Cincinnati's home game against Louisiana-Monroe, originally scheduled for last Saturday, will be played on Dec. 1 at 1 p.m. ET at Nippert Stadium. This week, the Bearcats will travel to Miami (Ohio) for the 106th meeting in the 113-year-old rivalry. ... The Gino Guidugli Era has begun at Cincinnati. The true freshman quarterback, pressed into service by a first-quarter injury to Adam Hoover at Army, completed 31 of 41 passes for 311 yards and three touchdowns without an interception in his college debut, a 21-17 win at Army. ... Guidugli led the game-winning drive in the final minute, and because of his performance he has been named the starter, though he was ill for much of last week and saw limited practice. ... The torn ACL he suffered against Army ended Hoover's college career. The freshman originally committed to Kentucky but withdrew that commitment after head coach Hal Mumme's resignation. He then chose Cincinnati over Notre Dame to become the highest-profile recruit of Rick Minter's career. ... Guidugli was named the Conference USA offensive player of the week. ... The torn ACL he suffered against Army ended Hoover's college career. A senior, Hoover already has accepted a job with Anderson Accounting in Los Angeles for next year. ... Minter remains disappointed in the team's running game, which has yielded just 2.9 yards per carry over two games.

East Carolina
The Pirates' game at Syracuse has been rescheduled for Sept. 29 at 1:30 p.m. ET. ... Senior fullback Leonard Henry ran for a career-high 218 yards on 19 carries against Western Carolina, and his 92-yard TD run in the third quarter was the third longest in school history. ... Senior QB David Garrard had his 29-game streak of scoring a touchdown, either by passing or running, snapped. ... ECU now faces William and Mary, which is nationally ranked in Division I-AA. ... Garrard needs just 20 yards to become the school's all-time passing leader.

Houston
Houston will make-up last Saturday's game at Georgia on Dec. 1. It will be the first meeting in 27 years between the schools. ... But the Cougars will have no problem looking ahead, with No. 6-ranked Texas visiting at 8 p.m. on Saturday. "Our football team has gone through the bevy of emotions like the whole country has," Houston coach Dana Dimel said. "Now it's great to have this rivalry game where we can focus on our responsibilities as football players and coaches." ... Houston had an off week before Saturday's postponement at Georgia, leaving Dimel concerned a bit about being rusty against Texas. ... The coach is even more concerned about his running game, after it produced just seven net yards in a season-opening loss to Rice.

Memphis
The Tigers had a scheduled bye week last week and will host future C-USA member South Florida on Saturday. ... Coach Tommy West got his first victory at the school with the Tigers' highest point total in two years in a 43-10 win over Division I-AA win over Chattanooga last time out. ... QB Travis Anglin threw for two TDs and ran for two more and junior Dante Brown ran 18 times for 158 yards. ... West said the full force of a reaction to last week's tragic events really didn't hit his team until Friday and Saturday. "Everyone's minds were with the victims and their families and the leaders of the nation," West said. "Now we're asking them to turn their minds back to the job at hand as much as possible."

Southern Miss
Officials from Southern Miss and Alabama are still working to reschedule last Saturday's postponed contest. ... The Eagles were coming off an off week heading into that game, and Bower just hopes to get his team some action. "My gosh," he said. "We've been at this for six weeks and only played two games. I'm still trying to find out if we're any good." ... The off week did give them time to nurse some injuries in preparation for Saturday's 5 p.m. game at Louisiana-Lafayette. Running back Dawayne Woods (MCL) is still questionable, however, while offensive lineman Kendrick Key has suffered an MCL sprain and likely won't play Saturday. ... Southern Miss ranks No. 2 nationally in turnover ratio after recovering four fumbles in a 17-9 win over Oklahoma State in the season-opener. ... The Southern Miss defense has allowed just eight rushing touchdowns over the past 61 quarters.

TCU
TCU's game against Marshall has been canceled and the series is tentatively scheduled to begin next season. ... After not scoring a touchdown all last season, even with a defense that had three players drafted by NFL teams, the Horned Frogs defense got on the board in a 38-10 win over SMU two Saturdays ago when LaMarcus McDonald scored a TD on a fumble recovery and safety Charlie Owens had a 36-yard fumble recovery for a TD. ... Owens nearly had an interception return for a TD, but was ruled out of bounds at the 1-yard line. ... When SMU scored a touchdown with 2:21 left, it was the first score TCU had allowed in nine quarters. ... The Frogs are allowing just 12 points per game heading into Saturday's home game against Northwestern State.

Tulane
Sophomore running back Mewelde Moore rushed for 107 yards on 24 carries in the loss to East Carolina on Sept. 8, the second 100-yard game of his career. ... Moore also caught 7 passes for 66 yards in the game. ... Senior QB Patrick Ramsey's second quarter TD pass to Moore marked the 24th straight game in which he has thrown at least one TD. ... Junior kicker Seth Marler kicked a C-USA record 53-yard field goal in the third quarter. ... After three games, Tulane is allowing 56.3 points per game. The Green Wave are giving up 329.3 yards per game on the ground and 259.7 yards through the air.

UAB
UAB's game against Pittsburgh has been rescheduled for Dec. 1. No time has been set. This week the Blazers host C-USA rival Army. ... Brown sent his entire team home for two days to be with their families after Tuesday's terrorist attacks in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington D.C. ... The Blazers lost 29-7 at Florida State on Sept. 8, faring a bit better than C-USA rival Louisville did in a 31-0 loss at Tallahassee a year ago, but still disappointing Brown. "We made too many mistakes," Brown said. "We had some chances, but Florida State made plays. After seeing them, I can't see where Florida State has missed a beat. The names and numbers on the jerseys are different, but they're as good as they ever were." ... Brown said the emotions are a bit different preparing to play against Army, but hopes that isn't a factor on the field. "Once the ball's kicked off, we've got to focus on UAB," he said. "We cannot worry about what's on the other side. Army is a good team for us to play right now because Army is always going to play well, not going to make a lot of mistakes and not make a lot of penalties. We've not played well enough in the first two games to beat Army."

Eric Crawford covers Conference USA for the Louisville Courier-Journal.