When nasty football coaches win they are portrayed as fiery characters. When they lose, they are caustic individuals who do not represent their universities well.

Charlie Weis is a nasty individual who does not represent Notre Dame well.

The Fighting Irish had to come from behind in the fourth quarter last week at Notre Dame Stadium to survive mighty San Diego State.

Listen closely: Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick.

Meanwhile, East Carolina University sits at No. 14 in the Associated Press poll after starting the season with victories over ranked teams Virginia Tech and Wake Forest. Including last season's Holiday Bowl victory against then No. 22 Boise State, that's three in a row against ranked foes.

ECU coach Skip Holtz worked under college football coaching legends Bobby Bowden, Earle Bruce and Lou Holtz (his dad) before Lew Perkins hired him to head UConn's then-Division I-AA program. After elevating the Huskies in five seasons to the brink of I-A status, Holtz went to work for his father at East Carolina.

Suggested next destination for Skip: Notre Dame.

What better way to reconnect with the glory years of the Lou Holtz era than to bring back his son to coach the Fighting Irish back to national prominence?

This week's picks:

Kansas 20, South Florida 17: Points will be difficult to come by because of two strong defenses. When in doubt forecasting such a game, go with the quarterback who throws fewer interceptions.

Missouri 42, Nevada 13: Heisman Trophy finalist Chase Daniel is off to another terrific start, throwing six touchdown passes and one interception so far. He needs just 51 passing yards to tie Brad Smith as Missouri's all-time leader. KU had a way of bringing out the worst in Smith. That hasn't been the case with Daniel so far.

Baylor 17, Washington State 14: This is smart scheduling. Both teams have a tendency to get beaten up in their conferences, so it will be nice for one of the teams to be able to feel good about beating a BCS Conference opponent.

Michigan 31, Notre Dame Dame 21: Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick.

Navy 24, Duke 21: The Blue Devils were one of three schools in pursuit of Todd Reesing, who also was offered a scholarship by K-State. If Duke had landed Reesing, this would be a different outcome.

Fresno State 27, Wisconsin 24: Whatever became of Allan Evridge, former mobile Kansas State lefty quarterback? He's the starting QB for Wisconsin. Evridge will be playing against a team with the advantages of playing at home and coming off a bye week.

Congratulations to Ray Trowbridge of Overland Park who was the Week 2 winner in the Kream Keegan contest. Trowbridge correctly picked all six games and was closest on the tiebreaker, predicting that Todd Reesing would throw for 439 yarks (Reesing threw for 412 yards. What a guess!). Will you be this week's winner? Sign up using the entry form below.

(The contest is currently closed. Good luck to all who entered.)