Maurice Clarett made one guarantee for Saturday's showdown against Michigan: He will play.

Clarett, bothered by a stinger and bruised joint in his left shoulder, sat out second-ranked Ohio State's overtime victory over Illinois last week. But the freshman tailback vowed Tuesday that he would not miss this weekend's showdown against the Wolverines (No. 9 ESPN/USA Today, No. 12 AP).

The school confirmed on Wednesday that Clarett is expected to play.

At stake for the 12-0 Buckeyes: the chance to play for the national championship Jan. 3 in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.

"I wouldn't care if I was 20 percent, you're going to see Maurice Clarett on the field," he told the Akron Beacon Journal. "I'm 100 percent. I'm ready to play. I'm excited to play. It's Michigan week."

Ohio State coach Jim Tressel was not as emphatic Tuesday, but told the newspaper, "I expect him to play this week."

"The trainers say that his strength is much better than it was a week ago," Tressel said of Clarett's shoulder. "Yet his strength was right on the edge of being able to go last weekend, probably could have.

"I would bet that if the Illinois game was the last regular-season game that he would have gone."

In nine games, Clarett has rushed for 1,071 yards and scored 15 touchdowns, 13 on the ground. He has six 100-yard games and needs only 56 yards to break the team's freshman rushing record set by Robert Smith in 1990.

Clarett also missed the Buckeyes' Nov. 2 game against Minnesota because of the shoulder injury, suffered on the final series at Wisconsin on Oct. 19.

After Saturday's game against 9-2 Michigan, Clarett will have 5½ weeks to rest his shoulder until a bowl game -- either on New Year's Day or Jan. 3.

Clarett doesn't just plan to play against the Wolverines, he plans to run like he did early this season.

"I'm going to be aggressive," he told the Columbus Dispatch after the Illinois game. "I'm not stepping around people or running out of bounds. If I get hurt on the first play, the sixth play or the 60th play, it doesn't matter. I've got four weeks to recover."