AUSTIN, Texas -- Just think, Texas coach Mack Brown worried last week that quarterback Colt McCoy wasn't having as much fun as he use to have playing the game.

McCoy showed his coach what fun really looks like Saturday night as the second-ranked Longhorns and Texas Tech got caught up in a virtual game of H.O.R.S.E. during the third quarter. With each touchdown the Red Raiders scored to try to reclaim the lead, McCoy was only too happy to match them.

"In the second half, he had a blast," Brown said. "When they'd score he'd say 'Look out, what a game. We've got come back and score.' He was the old Colt for the second half."

ORLANDO – The longest bowl trip in college football history closed Saturday night when Buffalo took the field.

The players ambled out to midfield. One of them needed a cane. The rest just needed hair dye to look like they did when the bowl bid arrived.

It was 1958, and the Bulls promptly rejected it. They could have come to Orlando, but their African-American players would not have been allowed on the field.

Fifty-one years later, they were given a standing ovation.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- It pains me to say that Lane Kiffin, the rockhead of Rocky Top, won the grudge match. He and Tennessee may have lost the football game, 23-13, but by limiting Florida's freakishly potent offense to 323 yards and forcing two rare turnovers from The Perfect Human Being (Tim Tebow), Kiffin didn't suffer nearly as much as he should have after the punkish cheap shots and low-class accusations he directed at Urban Meyer and the country's pre-eminent college program.

He was supposed to be road kill Saturday, a coaching pinata. Instead, he was wielding the stick again, irritating and even scaring Florida folks who were left to half-heartedly sing at the end, "Rocky Top, you'll always be, second in the SEC.'' No, this was not the party music that anyone had in mind, and when it was over, Kiffin left town with his limbs intact and a content look on his boyish, Dennis the Menace face. He even received a brief post-game handshake at midfield from Meyer, which was more a reflection of his rival's professionalism and dignity than any respect he might have gained for Kiffin.

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SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- They won, but they looked awful. So don't misconstrue the following: The Fighting Irish survived down the stretch for a 33-30 come-from-ahead victory on Saturday at Notre Dame Stadium against Michigan State.

Even so, they are a mess these days in football.

I'm guessing the priests who run the University of Notre Dame aren't likely any time soon to clear space around the statues of Knute Rockne, Frank Leahy, Ara Parseghian and Lou Holtz for one of Charlie Weis.

Weis still is in trouble. If not, he should be. In fact, he should be dropkicked by the leprechaun to the edge of the city limits if the Irish have another "victory" like this one. His fifth and most talented Notre Dame team just spent a second consecutive week fighting for its life against an inferior foe from the state of Michigan.

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Under most circumstances, you don't need much added incentive to watch a Giants-Cowboys game. The NFC East rivals always put on good games, are loaded with high-profile players and have designs on making noise in the playoffs later this season. Usually that's reason enough for them to land on national television, but Sunday night their contest will be a side dish.

Welcome to JerryWorld.

Jerry Jones' pleasure dome gets its long awaited night in the spotlight on Sunday and you can be sure that it will be profiled, discussed and featured far more than any players on either team. That's what pouring $1.15 billion into a stadium unlike any the NFL has ever seen before gets you. You'll hear plenty about 100,000 fans, $60 pizzas and everything else related to the building on Sunday night, so let's just focus on the game in these parts.

MINNEAPOLIS -- If the rest of the Tigers have as much heart as Justin Verlander, Detroit will hang on in the AL Central.

But they still have to prove it.

Oh, Zack Greinke may deserve the AL Cy Young Award. But he never had to pitch a game like this.

A packed house (largest crowd at the Metrodome since Opening Day). His team having lost eight of 11 to turn a 6 1/2-game lead into three. His offense unable to get a big hit off Twins right-hander Carl Pavano, who has tamed more Tigers this year than Siegfried and Roy combined.

Yet Verlander did absolutely everything he could, putting on as impressive a performance as there has been this season considering the circumstances.

And he lost.

USC once again followed a tired pattern Saturday, losing its Pac-10 road opener to Washington thanks to a bevy of offensive problems. Sophomore quarterback Aaron Corp, starting in place of injured freshman Matt Barkley was ineffective, tossing a pair of interceptions inside the Washington 30-yard line as USC fell to the Huskies 16-13. Washington kicked a 22-yard field goal with seconds remaining to eclipse the No. 3 Trojans.

USC's Pac-10 troubles are well established, having lost to Oregon State in 2008, Stanford and Oregon in 2007, UCLA in 2006 and Cal in 2003. The road openers have been predictably troublesome, with the Cal and Oregon State losses in that mix. Of particular embarrassment, USC coach Pete Carroll lost to disciple Steve Sarkisian, who only last week snapped a 15-game losing streak for the troubled Washington football program.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame announced the nominees for induction into its Class of 2010 on Saturday.

Wide receiver Jerry Rice and running back Emmitt Smith headline a group of 131 players, coaches and contributors that make up the list of modern-era nominees for election. Former Lions cornerback and current Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau and former Broncos running back Floyd Little are the two senior nominees that were picked in August by the Hall of Fame's Senior Selection Committee.

The semifinalists will be announced on Nov. 27, and the modern-era finalists will be chosen on Jan. 7. The entire 2010 class will be revealed the day before the Super Bowl on Feb. 6 in Miami.

Carolina Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith seemed to kick quarterback Jake Delhomme when he was down -- and benched -- last Sunday after committing five turnovers in a hideous 38-10, Week 1 loss to Philadelphia.

This week, Smith called into the WFNZ radio show of former Panthers teammate Frank Garcia to clarify what happened when the receiver seemed to offer some misguided love to his mentally wounded quarterback. Smith said this week's trip to Atlanta to face the 1-0 Falcons seemed a good time to clear the air, prompting the call-in to the show:

"I called in because it just got me. Got under my skin a little bit," Smith said. "Got a little local buzz or national buzz over me being mic'd up last week and what I said to Jake. It is very interesting that some of the YouTubes and some of the people have taken it like (that)."

First there were the reports of Browns coach Eric Mangini requiring a mandatory bus trip to work for free at his football camp. There were the rumors that Mangini slapped a curfew on players attending "voluntary" offseason workouts. And there was the talk that Mangini screwed Josh Cribbs out of an agreed-to contract renegotiation.

Now Yahoo!'s Michael Silver is reporting that the Browns fined a player $1,701 for drinking a $3 bottle of water out of the hotel minibar during a road trip without paying for it at the front desk upon leaving.