When Ferrum College honors its first national championship football team at Saturday's home game, legendary ex-coach Hank Norton and Co. will be happy to share the spotlight.

At 4-0, the Panthers already have matched their victory total from the 2004 season, when they were 4-6. Moreover, their last three victories have come on the road.

"I know we've had some undefeated teams here," Ferrum coach Dave Davis said, "but I don't know that we've ever won three straight road games. How many times do you even play three straight road games?"

The first of two Ferrum teams to go undefeated and untied was the 1965 team, which was also the first of four Ferrum teams to win National Junior College Athletic Association championships.

"We were 5-4 the year before, so I don't think you could say we saw it coming," Norton said. "We had a lot of really good players, but I don't think that there were any pros in that group."

Norton has been retired for 12 years and lives east of Richmond, but he has seen two games in person this year and still lives and dies with the Panthers.

"He does that," said Davis, a former Norton assistant. "He calls me about every other day and I look forward to hearing from him."

Davis said that this week's opponent, Averett (2-1), might be the best team the Panthers have faced. Both teams are 1-0 in the USA South. Averett beat visiting Ferrum 46-44 last year -- one of three overtime losses suffered by the Panthers.

"I don't know how much of a buzz there is about Ferrum football," Davis said. "I haven't talked to anybody on the outside. I don't have a moment to breathe right now, [but] I imagine there's a lot out of curiosity out there as to how we became a 4-0 team."

Davis doesn't think there's any secret to success in Division III football.

"One of the things that has helped us is retention," he said. "At a four-year school, if you're playing with underclassmen against seniors, you're going to lose."

n Ferrum's 4-0 start is the team's first since the 1998 team started 6-0, only to finish 6-4 as a member of the Atlantic Central Football Conference. Ferrum joined the Dixie Conference, forerunner of the USA South, in 2001.

More D-III

Bridgewater will put a 29-game Old Dominion Athletic Conference winning streak on the line Saturday, when it visits Hampden-Sydney in a matchup of two of the most prolific offenses in Division III. Bridgewater is averaging 46.6 points and Hampden-Sydney, which hasn't beaten the Eagles since 1998, is averaging 51.6

The closest ODAC challenger to Hampden-Sydney senior quarterback J.D. Ricca, who has passed for 426.3 yards per game, is his younger brother, Keith, a 6-foot-4 freshman who was 34-of-57 for 407 yards and four touchdowns Saturday as Catholic University ended a 14-game losing streak with a 28-24 victory over Randolph-Macon.

In the ACC

Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe has decided to start fifth-year senior Cory Randolph at quarterback Saturday against Clemson.

Randolph started 20 games at quarterback the past two seasons, but sophomore Ben Mauk has been the starter this year.

The Deacons (1-3, 0-1 ACC) are ranked 111th out of 117 Division I-A teams in passing offense. Mauk ranks 12th in the ACC in total offense, behind 11 other quarterbacks.

Randolph had been taking turns at receiver this year and had one reception.

Hidden gem

One of the surprises of the West Virginia football team this year has been Owen Schmitt, a 6-3, 245-pound sophomore who won the Mountaineers' starting fullback job after transferring from Division III Wisconsin-River Falls, where he rushed for 1,063 yards as a freshman in 2003.

Schmitt went to Fairfax High School, alma mater of former prep All-America running back Brandon Royster and Virginia Tech defensive back Mike Daniels, but hardly a hotbed for college recruiters. Schmitt rushed for a team-high 80 yards against Maryland, including a 34-yard touchdown run.

Scheduling

Among the interesting matchups facilitated by the NCAA's approval of a 12th regular-season game for Division I-A football were North Carolina-Tennessee and Alabama-Penn State. Carolina has added Tennessee for 2011-2012 and will play Colorado in 2008-2009. The Tar Heels and Volunteers last played in 1961.

Recruiting

Kelvin Lewis, a 6-foot-4 shooting guard from Crowley, Texas, postponed his decision for a couple of days before making a basketball commitment to his early favorite, Auburn. Lewis, who visited Virginia over the weekend of Sept. 16-18, is the son of TCU assistant Kevin Lewis.

n Doneal Mack (6-5) from Statesville, N.C., took an official visit to Virginia Tech last weekend, and 6-5 Solomon Tat from Stockbridge, Ga., will be in Charlottesville this weekend. Tat plays internationally for Nigeria and knows UVa sophomore center and countryman Tunji Soroye.