Irish football coach Tyrone Willingham is trying not to speculate about bowl games. But with his 9-1 Irish facing an off-week before playing 1-8 Rutgers, it may be difficult not to peek down that road that could lead to Miami, New Orleans; Pasadena, Calif.; or even Tempe, Ariz.

"You can't help but do something along those lines, but I really don't focus on it," Willingham said. "My belief is if we can do ourselves good by winning our next ballgame, then probably by that time, in two weeks, everything will start to clear up a little bit more."

Even if the Irish feel they can discount Rutgers, the Irish still have to go into Los Angeles and defeat No. 8 Southern California before the bowls start beckoning. But Willingham knows that to look past the Scarlet Knights, a team that had No. 1 Miami beaten through three quarters, could be a big mistake.

"We want some awareness [about USC], maybe more for our coaches to have time with SC than our players," Willingham said. "Our focus has to be Rutgers. We've got to be looking at Rutgers. If we don't do that, then that's probably making a mistake."

Facing the elements

So far this season, Willingham has faced several facets of coaching that often didn't arise during his tenure at Stanford, namely the constant attention from national media and high pressure and expectations from fans and alumni that aren't very accustomed to losing.

However, as the weather starts to turn cold in South Bend, Willingham is faced with another set of relatively unfamiliar circumstances — how to handle practice sessions under the wintry conditions.

"Well, the first thing is we'll try to stay outside as much as possible and use that as a positive, because if we have the discipline and the toughness to fight through any of the conditions that we have to encounter outside, hopefully it will make us better," Willingham said.

Injury update

Two key starters on the Irish defense were missing from action Saturday against Navy — safety Gerome Sapp and defensive tackle Cedric Hilliard.

Hilliard injured his leg during the Florida State game on Oct. 26 and has not returned to the field during a game since that time, being replaced on the line by Greg Pauly and Kyle Budinscak, who moved over from his defensive end position.

Sapp was injured during practice Thursday and was replaced at safety by Garron Bible against the Midshipmen.

Willingham is optimistic that both will return within the coming weeks.

"Sapp is day-to-day, and hopefully we'll get him back on course for Rutgers," Willingham said after practice Tuesday. "[Cedric Hilliard] had been day-to-day and then week-to-week, but now we're not sure which direction he'll go. We anticipate he'll be ready soon, and soon may be Rutgers, and if not, the following week."

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