The Daily Gopher Fix -- GameDay Edition

Big day in college football today. Ohio State visits USC tonight. Michigan visits Notre Dame in a game featuring two once great, now downtrodden programs. And I'm really looking forward to Wisconsin against Fresno State.

Not a lot to give you at the moment. .... I'll try to update in the morning. But be sure to come back here at gametime for a liveblog. We had fun last week. Hope you'll join us.

Until then, drop your predcitions below. I'm calling this 49-17 Minnesota. That means GN probably picks something like 84 to 3 in Minnesota's favor. GN's on a little vacation, so we'll have to get through the weekend without him.

• Seems like Beanie Wells is out for the big game against USC. Yet another reason to feel confident picking USC to trounce the so-labeled best team in the Big Ten.
• Staying with 2008's first alleged game of the year, Men of the Scarlet and Gray has quite a bit of reading for you if you want to skip the yard work and delve into the details on Trojans v. Buckeyes.
• A less hyped game--though I think it will be a better one--has Oregon facing Purdue. Our friends at Off the Tracks went back and forth with Oregon bloggers from Addicted to Quack.
• If there were a Wisconsin blog, I'd like to their entries on the tilt with Fresno State.
• Charley Walters of the PiPress quotes Tim Brewster indicating that sophomore running back.Duane Bennett is in fact eligible for a medical redshirt after suffering a season ending knee injury last Saturday at Bowling Green.
• Michigan Sports Center says Minnesota will beat Montana State in a blowout.
• The Gophers are enjoying the feeling of a 2-0 start and the team's confidence is soaring, the Associated Press reports.
• The Great Falls Montana Tribune previews the game, quotes Brewster as calling Adam Weber "tremendous," and notes that MSU will start University of Oregon transfer, southpaw Cody Kempt at quarterback.
• Marcus Fuller of the PiPress writes that Montana State poses a threat to the Gophers. No question, the pressure is on MInnesota today. Hopefully Brewster can make sure they play loose and take care of business.

Trying to avoid the breakdowns that led to last year's 27-21 home loss to North Dakota State, Brewster had his team prepare even more intensely this week, trying to prevent a letdown against what he called a "dangerous team" that could keep the Gophers from starting the season 3-0 for the first time since 2005. With a third victory, Minnesota also would be halfway to becoming bowl eligible.

"Two years ago, Montana State went into Colorado and beat the University of Colorado," Brewster said early in the week. "Our attention to detail is going to be as strong this week as it has been for every game and every practice that we've had. I'm going to be hard on my guys this week. I'm hard on them all the time, but without question this week is a game where I'm going to make sure we're doing the things that we need to do to prepare ourselves to win."

I'll be back around 10:30 a.m. CT to kick off the live blog!