Early Season Schedule Sends Some Top Teams Into Action

Can’t wait until September for college football?

You don’t have to.

Three TV weekend games plus a Monday night bonus should make the last three dog days of August more tolerable:

Today:

* No. 15 Colorado State at No. 23 Michigan State in the Black Coaches’ Assn. Classic, on ESPN2 at 1 p.m.

The Rams are the best the Western Athletic Conference has to offer and can make an early national statement in East Lansing. The question is whether fifth-year senior quarterback Ryan Eslinger can replace the departed Moses Moreno. Michigan State appeared Rose Bowl bound after a 5-0 start last season, but the Spartans lost five of their last seven games and were last seen fleeing the Hawaiian Islands after a 51-23 Aloha Bowl loss to Washington.

* Louisiana Tech at No. 4 Nebraska in the Eddie Robinson Football Classic on Fox Sports West at 1 p.m.

It looks like a train wreck on paper, but don’t be surprised if Louisiana Tech keeps it close for 10 or 15 minutes. The independent Bulldogs were 9-2 last season, defeating California and Alabama, and have quarterback Tim Rattay, who passed for 3,881 yards and 34 touchdowns last year.

Nebraska has won 42 consecutive games at home, but the Cornhuskers are breaking in a new coach, Frank Solich, and a new quarterback, Bobby Newcombe, and are surprisingly thin at tailback with Ahman Green now in the NFL and replacement D’Angelo Evans out because of injury.

Sunday:

* Purdue at USC in the Pigskin Classic on Channel 7 at 11:30 a.m.

Paul Hackett can only hope his first year at USC goes as well as Joe Tiller’s debut at Purdue last season. Tiller inherited a 3-8 team and posted a 9-3 record, the nation’s second-best turnaround.

If USC wins for Hackett, it will be a first. The last six USC coaches--John Robinson (twice), Larry Smith, Ted Tollner, John McKay and Don Clark --failed to win their debuts. The Trojans are also 0-2 on Sundays, losing to North Carolina in the 1993 Pigskin Classic and to Penn State in the 1996 Kickoff Classic.

Monday night:

* No. 2 Florida State vs. No. 14 Texas A&M; in the Kickoff Classic at the Meadowlands on Channel 7 at 5.

It’s back to school for 26-year-old Chris Weinke, who takes over as Florida State quarterback after a six-year baseball diversion in the Toronto Blue Jays’ organization.

While this is a matchup of top-20 opponents, don’t be surprised if it gets ugly. Texas A&M; was no match for Nebraska’s team speed in last year’s Big 12 title game, giving up 536 total yards in a 54-15 defeat.

Florida State is even faster than Nebraska, so keep the oxygen mask handy for Texas A&M; star junior linebacker Dat Nguyen, who closed last season with a 20-tackle game against UCLA in the Cotton Bowl.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Today’s Games

* 1 p.m.--Colorado State at Michigan State, ESPN2.

* 1 p.m.--Louisiana Tech at Nebraska, Fox Sports West.