For past two seasons, the once-mighty Michigan-Notre Dame rivalry has been mighty crappy. There was ND’s 35-17 wipeout of the Wolverines in South Bend last season, and then there was UM’s 38-0 a$$-whooping of the Irish in Ann Arbor the season before that. So you’d figure that today’s matchup in the Big House would be a big bore.

Big mistake to assume that. Like two aging heavyweights whose glory days appeared to have been behind them, Michigan & Notre Dame traded punches all afternoon (figurative, not literal) as the score see-sawed back & forth. But it was the Maize & Blue who managed the final knockout blow, as Tate Forcier tossed a 5-yard TD pass to Greg Matthews with 11 seconds left. So Hail to the Victors in a 38-34 thriller.

(Time to get those Charlie Weis-bashing billboards back up.)

Speaking of knockouts, another top-5 team from the Sooner state took another tumble on the field in an upset loss.

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• Looking to get lei’d? Then don’t go to Saturday’s Notre Dame game.

• Could Bill Cowher be convinced to coach the Cleveland Browns?

• Bud Selig is tweaking postseason play, weather you like it or not.

• Eric Musselman may not know if Bill Walsh is still alive, but the ex-NBA coach knows he’s got it good with sideline-reporting Fox Danyelle Sargent.

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Earlier this season, UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel had employed a unique tool as a way to see multiple potential recruits play in one night (and impress the hell out of them in the process): flying in on a helicopter. It matched the image of him as an aggressive, on-the-go coach whose high-energy style would attract young players. Plus, everyone knows that helicopters are awesome. (Not as awesome as, say, ninjas, but pretty awesome.)

Neuheisel had plans to take to the skies tonght to see two games - one in Mission Viejo and one in Ventura. But the LOS ANGELES TIMES reports that Neuheisel has been grounded. The reason isn’t that Pete Carroll has recently come into possession of a cadre of surface-to-air missile but something simpler - the helicopter is in use tonight.

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• Greg Patton of the RIVERSIDE PRESS-ENTERPRISE hears Rick Neuheisel thanking UCLA fans for not booing during the Bruins’ bruising by Arizona.

• Baron Davis offers his thoughts & prayers to those affected by the Columbia, SC, plane crash that killed 4.

• BALLHYPE passes along video of David Beckham’s appearance on Sesame Street.

• You know things are bad for your team when the mascot is holding signs criticizing the owner. And THE SUN is there.

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Two weeks ago, UCLA kicked off its second Rick Neuheisel era with a stunning, come-from-behind victory over SEC sort-of powerhouse (okay, maybe that’s pushing it) Tennessee. What would they do for an encore? Why, get bombed back to the stone age by a Mountain West team, that’s what. Yeah, that football monopoly in L.A. is definitely over, Rick.

Hours before USC plastered Ohio State 35-3 in front of a sell-out crowd and national TV audience, BYU got six touchdown passes from quarterback Max Hall in the first half  as the Cougars destroyed the Bruins 59-0, the worst loss for UCLA since 1929.

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• Need to make it to a high school football game on time? Just do like Rick Neuheisel does - call in the choppers!

• Maybe Vince Young knew what was going to happen when he didn’t want to go back on the field on Sunday.

• Sorry, Chad - no Ocho Cinco game jersey for you this week.

• With Brady bounced for the year, are New England Patriots fans ready to rally ’round the Cassel?

• One Colts fan bucks at the thought of paying $1,280 for brand-new stadium seats that turn out to have obstructed views.

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The Rick Neuheisel era at UCLA is off to a pretty good start, as the Bruins are 1-0 after beating the Tennessee Vols last week at the Rose Bowl. A win like that is bound to impress some recruits and, along with those full page ads, maybe steal some thunder away from cross-town rival USC.

Still, these days winning football games just isn’t enough to woo potential suitors. USC wins a lot of games, and they have the Song Girls to boot, so if you’re going to win them over you have to take your recruiting to the next level. For Neuheisel, that level is the skies.

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Welcome to the most awkward co-mingling of cultures since those discoverers of bubblin’ crude skedaddled to Beverly Hills and settled in to ruin prime-time television as part of the Backwoods Triptych (”Beverly Hillbillies”, “Green Acres”, and “Petticoat Junction”).  We’ll be working blue tonight… as well as orange… we fear this will never make the Bravo Web site.

(We miss college, where we could get drunk and pretend we were saying meaningful things next to an inflatable swimming pool and a UC-Irvine DJ…)

Brooks has stationed himself next to SbB Girl Alex at the Rose Bowl for the game (made possible by My Boy Barry!), delivering the kind of southern California atmosphere that only Brooks can provide.

Below is Brooks’ pregame report and pictures of SbB Girl Alex coaxing shy college football fans in front of the camera.
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I would like to confirm breaking news here in Los Angeles. Someone still takes the paper version of the L.A. TIMES. Actually, I haven’t officially confirmed that the guys at GUTTY LITTLE BRUINS pay for the periodical, as I’ve heard there’s freebies to be found under the cigarette machine at Jumbo’s Clown Room (state edition only).

Yes, GLB has this evidence that the UCLA Bad Idea Athletic Dept. thought it was a good idea to take out that kind of full page ad in this week’s Times. What a brave move (and no doubt, idea) by Rick Neuheisel! I’m sure his quarterback this season, whomever that may be, really appreciates it. Almost as much as taking snaps behind a line that invokes the Mexicali border.

That ad is almost as bad as a depleted, demoralized UCLA team having to play a squad like, oh … say, TENNESSEE in its first game. On a Monday. So the whole world is watching. Yeah, that would really suck.

Whoops!

The UCLA players can also thank Slick Rick for that one, as it was his idea to move the game to Monday. So the whole world will get to watch the Bruins being eaten by the Volunteers. Literally.

I will be attending that game this Monday, thanks to a sweet hookup by My Boy Barry. I’ll be live blogging from the Rose Bowl tailgate, while also sneaking Smokey scraps in the hope of him delivering a sweet release on Neuheisel’s overpriced footwear.

SbB is back on radio today, in two of my favorite cities.

At 11:45a PT I’ll be on with Jorge Sedano of 790 The Ticket in Miami:

Jorge Sedano - 790 The Ticket (WAXY-AM)

Listen Live. Sedano’s Audio Page. Sedano’s blog.

And at 1:35p PT I’ll join Steve Cofield of ESPN 1100 in Vegas (baby!):

Steve Cofield - ESPN 1100 (KWWN-AM)

Cofield’s Bio Page. Cofield’s blog.

I’ll be on several other shows across the country later this week as well. If you want to book an appearance, email me at Brooks@SPORTSbyBROOKS.com.

• THE SPORTS HERNIA shows how excited assistant coach Steve Shuman is about the upcoming WNBA season, based on his media day photo:

• The ST. PETERSBURG TIMES reports that setting new levels of success and beating the Yankees still can’t get Rays fans out to Tropicana Field.

• The ORLANDO SENTINEL tosses news of a Florida State baseball player who gets around - by playing all nine positions in a single game.

• GUTTY LITTLE BRUINS brews up video of Rick Neuheisel extolling the virtues of UCLA football to some new recruits.

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