If you like your Heisman Trophy stories seasoned with a dash of fate, dig into Dave Ragone's.

When young Dave was a student at St. Ignatius High School in downtown Cleveland, he routinely parked his white Mustang every day in front of a small historical marker. He didn't pay it much attention, but one day curiosity moved him to see what it said.

It marked the birthplace of a Mr. John W. Heisman. The Namesake himself.

If that isn't precious enough to curl Lee Corso's toes, nothing is.

	Dave Ragone threw for 3,056 yards and 23 TDs last year.

There's just one catch. At the time, fate would have been insulted by the very mention of "Dave Ragone" and "Heisman" in the same sentence, paragraph or term paper. During the days when the future Louisville star was parking at the former Heisman crib, he wasn't even considered Harlon Hill material.

That's the award for the nation's outstanding Division II player. And in August 1997, when Ragone was entering his senior year at national football power St. Ignatius, he didn't dare aspire that high. His sights were set on Division III.

"I just planned on going to John Carroll," he said, with a straight face. "I was going to go there and play two sports, basketball and football."

That seemed realistic enough at the time. Ragone had never even started a high school football game, and he was still battling to be first string going into his senior season. The only way he could have been any farther off recruiters' radar was if Ignatius played its games under ground.

Even when Ragone finally got his chance and led Ignatius to an 11-2 record, throwing for 2,827 yards and 25 touchdowns, Gridworld yawned. Ohio State certainly didn't bother (an inspired move, given the succession of wobbly QBs in Columbus recently). Louisville entered a wide-open picture and beat out Bowling Green to sign the big left-hander.

So he upgraded from D-III to D-I. So what. The fate thing still had no legs.

Ragone arrived at Louisville as the caddy for hometown hero Chris Redman, who went on to throw for more yards than all but two Division I-A quarterbacks in history. But the Cardinal coaches were buzzing about Ragone from the minute he arrived. They sounded crazy whispering that there would be no dropoff when Redman left - and they were right.

The program got better.

Ragone is now 20-5 as a starter and has led the Cards to consecutive Conference USA championships. The 6-foot-4, 250-pounder has been the league offensive player of the year twice in a row, and is the primary reason why a traditional outsider like Louisville is ranked in virtually every preseason Top 20.

In fact, Ragone is roundly considered a lock first-round draft pick next April -- quite possibly in the top five. And you can't get there from John Carroll.

Wrap it all in one package and you've got a nice little story -- on the individual, and his team. But it makes Ragone a bit queasy.

"I'm not used to people patting us on the back," he said. "My whole life, it's never been like that."

Dave Ragone didn't get here without a sizeable-but-useful chip on the shoulder.

That Ohio State snub? He says it only served to motivate him "for two or three years." That's a serious grudge.

And those two losses his senior year in football? Both were to arch-rival Canton McKinley, which went on to win USA Today's national championship that year. When the teams met in basketball later that school year, Ragone made 11 of 12 shots in an Ignatius victory.

"That was one of those personal vendetta things," he says matter-of-factly.

There's a reason Ragone routinely wears a Gonzaga hat around the Louisville football facility. Those guys who were overlooked by the big-time basketball schools, then came back to beat their butts in the NCAA Tournament year after year? Those are Dave Ragone's kind of guys.

Which is why Ragone cuts through the hype that is thick as August haze in Louisville to find the doubt, unearth the slight. He sees it and hears it, even if he has to imagine it: A guy from an off-brand league can't win the Heisman, and a team from an off-brand league can't crash the BCS.

But David Carr and Fresno State made a dandy run last year, and many people see the Cards as this year's Fresno. Fate might finally cuddle up to this story after all.

Could fate work with a guy who is the son of off-the-boat Italian immigrants and still speak very little English? Whose father knows more about football played by Ronaldo than football played by Ragone? Whose father still wonders exactly what the referees are signalling when they throw those yellow flags around the field?

Yeah, there's a story here. And maybe one day, if fate consummates the deal, there will be another historical marker in downtown Cleveland, next to the one commemorating the birthplace of John W. Heisman:

Parking Place of 2002 Heisman Trophy Winner Dave Ragone.

Pat Forde covers college football for the Louisville Courier-Journal.