Game Day: Louisville vs. Cincinnati

LOUISVILLE CARDINALS (5-4, 1-3) vs. CINCINNATI BEARCATS (7-2, 3-1)

Game Time: 8 p.m.

Location: Papa John's Cardinal Stadium: Louisville, Ky.

Television: ESPN2

Announcers: Sean McDonough/Chris Spielman/Rob Stone

Favorite: Cincinnati by 4

All-Time Series: Cincinnati leads 25-21-1 (For the record, U of L says 26-20-2, but we'll go with the mark that makes us look the best)

Last Meeting: Louisville won 28-24 in 2007

Excitement Level (1-10): 5.8

Only because there's a friggin' keg of friggin' nails at stake.

Game Attire: Black Zack Stoudt jersey

Whatever. It's got more w's than anything else this year. Plus, it's awesome.

Predicted Star of the Game: Victor Anderson

Every single person who's talked about this game has stressed Louisville's need to establish the run. There's a reason for that.

Obscure and Bold Prediction: Hunter Cantwell doesn't throw an interception.

Lose your dreams and you will lose your mind.

Notable and Quotable

--Louisville has won the last five in this series, and nine of the last ten. Cincinnati's lone win over that span was a 24-14 victory at PJCS in 2002.

--The UC defense has produced 16 sacks over its last six games.

--The last two Big East players to return a kickoff 100-yards for a touchdown are UC's Mardy Gilyard (last week vs. West Virginia) and U of L's Trent Guy (last season against Kentucky).

--Steve Kragthorpe is 2-2 against ranked foes at U of L.

--Mike Mickens is really good.

--"It's not much of a rivalry when you don't beat the other team. We need to make this a rivalry." --Brian Kelly

--"(The Keg is) one thing I'd really like to get before I leave." --Adam Hoppel

--"We're going to fight. I'm convinced we have a team of fighters. They're frustrated, but they're frustrated in a good way. I think they're fighting their butts off. ... I still feel good about this team. I feel good about our chances." --Steve Kragthorpe

--"We still have goals ahead of us; we still want to get to a bowl game. We can't stop fighting. You have to have pride." --Adrian Grady

--"Because of the way we played in the last two weeks, we're not in the Big East race right now mathematically. But there's still a lot of season to play. We want to take our team to a bowl game. We want to continue to play well. We want to win these last three games of the season." --Steve Kragthorpe