What I liked about last weekend was that we saw teams that are historically huge underdogs -- teams like Iowa State, Kentucky and Louisville -- take on the big guys and not get intimidated

	Tyrone Willingham has the Irish of to a 4-0 start.

The cover of Sports Illustrated said it best last week: What a difference a coach makes. And not just in their reference to Tyrone Willingham at Notre Dame, but at schools across the country.

Going into this year I thought the Irish had no talent on defense, no speed and no ability. But now it looks like they have a lot of speed. Where were Vontez Duff and Shane Walton last year? They were on that team, and the point is you can't make conclusions based on play alone. That's the easy way out. You have to take attitude into account.

And where was Kentucky's defense last year when the Wildcats were giving up almost 500 yards per game? Did they get rid of everybody from last season and rebuild this team with free agency? No, these are the same guys with a different attitude. I gave a game ball to Guy Morriss and his team on our college scoreboard show even though they lost. The way they way they went into the Swamp and played with swagger and bravado, losing a 41-34 thriller, said an awful lot.

We're seeing teams that have the same players but a different mindset turn things around completely. So much of college football is mental, the preparation, attitude, and state of mind, and a lot of teams refuse to be bullied anymore. It's great to see.

Problems for the 'Noles
I was surprised by what happened to Florida State in the 26-20 loss to Louisville. That game was set up perfectly for them because of the pouring rain and their current offensive lint that Bobby Bowden said is the best he's ever had at FSU. A lot of people say rain is a great equalizer as far as talent goes, but with tailback Greg Jones weighing about 240 pounds behind that line the Seminoles were all set up to pound a Cardinals' defense that was dominated by Kentucky and beaten soundly by Colorado State. But it just didn't seem that Jones was hitting the holes hard.

Two other things also stood out to me in this game. First, Chris Rix had some understandable struggles in the rain, but he is not playing like he did at the end of last year in terms of decision-making. His play at the end of last season is the reason he was my Heisman Trophy darkhorse at the beginning of this year. Rix has all the physical abilities but the decision-making is what concerns people. And the throw that was intercepted in overtime was a head-scratcher.

I know he made a bad pass into double coverage, but I don't know why Florida State even made that call. Why were the Seminoles throwing to the end zone on the first play of overtime anyway? It made no sense.

Secondly, the 'Noles just don't have the shutdown cornerbacks they used to have. They had five sacks against a struggling Louisville front, but they don't get consistent pressure up front and they don't have the corners that can play tight coverage anymore. If they can't cover Louisville's wide receivers they will never, ever, be able to cover Miami's or Florida's wideouts man-to-man.

I know people were upset that some of Louisville's players were talking trash, but it really helped that football team. The Cardinals decided they were not going to let Florida State intimidate them and that they were going to smack the Seminoles around.

It was like playing a pickup basketball game against guys who are much better than you, and you have that one guy who is always in someone's face, fouling someone and getting people off their games. That's what I saw from Louisville. I know a lot of people say that's cheap and that it's no way to play, but that's how the Cardinals decided they were going to win. They got under the Seminoles skin, got in their face and slapped them around.

I'll never be a proponent of poor sportsmanship, but Louisville was trying to win a football game and I see nothing wrong with that approach. It was the Cardinals' plan to make Florida State upset by knocking them around, and it worked. That is a huge tribute to what John L. Smith is doing with his team. The coach is making a difference.

Tide will test the Bulldogs
Georgia had a big game against New Mexico State, but if you really look at things they are not feeling that good about their offense right now. They had some dropped balls, David Greene is still not all there and NMSU made some mistakes that cost them a chance to get back in the game. It looks like they are on track because they scored 41 points, but I don't think the team feels that way.

What probably frustrated coach Mark Richt last Saturday is that he sees open receivers that Greene is not getting the ball to. At the same time, some of those receivers are dropping balls and the team as a whole is not where they need to be. We will find out where they are this weekend when they face Alabama.

I just don't think there is any chance Musa Smith and Georgia will be able to do much running against the Tide, and we'll see in this game whether or not David Greene is good enough. I picked Georgia to win the SEC East and the 'Bama game will tell us a lot. I'm a little concerned about the physical part of the Bulldogs' game, and if they are not physical enough, the Tide will expose that immediately.

I ripped Oklahoma's offense after the 'Bama game, but the Sooners' win over the Tide is looking better all the time. Brodie Croyle can throw the ball well and and doesn't turn it over from the quarterback position, and they have a good 1-2 punch with Santonio Beard and Shaud Williams at running back. 'Bama's front seven on defense is also very active.

Getting back to what a difference a coach makes, look at what Dennis Franchione has done. His Alabama team is ineligible for everything, but they play hard. The stability of the leadership and demand for perfection are a perfect example of what can be done with the right attitude.

'Huskers have the players but not the attitude
There is a feeling out there, especially after the 36-14 thrashing by Iowa State, that Nebraska has no talent, no speed and is no good. That's the easy conclusion to draw, but it is wrong. Less than a year ago the Cornhuskers beat Oklahoma, 20-10, and OU is one of the fastest teams in college football. Nebraska didn't get slow all of a sudden. The 'Huskers didn't eat and get lazy during the offseason.

ISU was just the better team. The Cyclones outplayed and outcoached the 'Huskers, but to say that Nebraska has no talent is misguided and wrong, and that will be proven when the attitude changes. What I'm hearing out of Lincoln is that there are some issues in the program -- and much deeper issues than most people know about. I don't think the team quit, but when and if those issues are resolved you will see that there is indeed talent there.

Tale of two Tigers teams
The SEC West still has me dumbfounded. Heading into last week, I would have said that Auburn was the team to beat, but they didn't look fantastic against Syracuse. Give the Orangemen credit for hanging tough, but they are not a great football team. Where Auburn has upgraded is at wide receiver. The Tigers are young but talented there, and if Cobb doesn't make mistakes they can be pretty good on offense.

At Louisiana State, it's the same thing. LSU always has a pretty good offensive line and the Tigers like to pound the ball, but the question this year, unlike last year with Rohan Davey, is whether Matt Mauck can throw the ball successfully. They can't keep running quarterback draws without him completing some passes.

Football is not that hard to figure out in the sense that when you look at most teams, they have something they don't like to do offensively. And every defense will try to take away what the opponent does well to exploit that. Auburn and LSU run the ball well, but when they run into a good defense like the one at Alabama the weakness has to be able to lead the team. That's the issue for these teams in the West, getting their quarterbacks to make the fewest amount of mistakes possible, and that's why Alabama is looking so good in that division right now.

Meanwhile, out West...
California lost a 48-38 shootout against Washington State last weekend, but the Cinderella run is not over for Cal. The Bears were getting blown out last year, and if you look at this loss to the Cougars compared to the Nebraska-Iowa State game, the difference is that Cal was in the game to the end. It took a courageous, 400-yard performance from Jason Gesser and his injured ribs to put California away.

	Pete Carroll has USC off to a 3-1 start.

Cal had bad football players last year, or so everyone said, and all of a sudden they are all pretty good. Did they go to speed camps? No, they just have a coach in Jeff Tedford who knows what he is doing. So throw them in there with teams like Notre Dame and Kentucky that have a new attitude and are a better team for it. Cal is good team (remember, WSU was picked to win the Pac-10) that has come a long way. The Bears have a couple of losses in a row, but they have still made a remarkable turnaround.

The sad part about this game is that most people didn't get to see it because it was a late game on the West Coast. All most people remember is that Gesser had a bad game in a loss to Ohio State. But I put him back into my Heisman top five because of what he did over the weekend.

And the way USC dominated Oregon State in a 22-0 shutout was surprising. I still think OSU is a decent football team, but the way the Trojans' defense completely shut down the Beavers' passing game was amazing. Southern California coach Pete Carroll's NFL-influenced zone-blitz schemes really confused Derek Anderson and showed him things he hadn't seen before.

It seems like every week in the Pac-10 a bunch of QBs are going off and there is always a lot of offense, but the question mark for the big teams has been defense. USC has a great defense that could separate them from the rest of the conference, and if I had to pick a team right now to win the Pac-10, I would say the Trojans are it because of the combination of a decent offense and a dominant defense. Norm Chow has worked wonders with Carson Palmer and has him playing a little more within himself, and Carroll has taken this team out of the doldrums and turned it around.

Again, we get back to attitude.

Trev Alberts is a college football analyst for ESPN. He contributes a weekly column to ESPN.com.