CLEMSON, S.C. -- Of all the unbeaten teams in the country, the one team people still wonder about and still have all kinds of questions about is NC State. Of all the remaining undefeated teams, the Wolfpack may have the toughest remaining schedule based on winning percentage (their remaining five opponents have a combined record of 25-12, or .675 winning percentage).

But tonight, at Clemson, is NC State's first big chance to show the nation it is legit and deserves to be included in the company of Miami, Oklahoma, Virginia Tech, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Georgia, etc.

New Attitude At NC State
Since Chuck Amato took over three years ago, Philip Rivers has been the guy. Showing incredible maturity, he handled every obstacle early in his career and has blossomed into one of the best QBs in the country now. He is one of the more unorthodox QBs with an awkward delivery, but he is also one of the more accurate QBs. Rivers is the nation leader is passing efficiency, completes 65.8 percent of his passes and has 2,015 yards with 16 TDs and just five interceptions. He also has seven rushing TDs.

	No. 9 NC State at Clemson
	Kirk Herbstreit joins Mike Tirico and Lee Corso for tonight's 7:30 p.m. ET battle between No. 9 NC State and Clemson on ESPN. Herbstreit's Thursday Night Lights will appear weekly and breakdown the Thursday night game.

More importantly, he is this team's leader. Not just the offense, but the entire team. He'll run down and get the defense fired up before a big series. He's basically a coach. One thing that has changed in the few years since Amato has taken over is the lack of cliques on the team. Unlike when Amato first arrived, this team is unselfish and really into winning now since it has tasted a little more success each season. Now, instead of having prima donnas just looking out for their stats, this is a team that just wants to win and Rivers symbolizes that attitude and this team is built around him. There's something very special about this team.

From a passing standpoint, its not Koren Robinson anymore. There are four guys -- Jerricho Cotchery, Bryan Peterson, Sterling Hicks and Dovonte Edwards -- who can do damage and NC State will spread it out to each of those guys. Combined, they have 98 catches, 1,627 yards and 13 TDs. Each of these guys will have a chance to make plays tonight.

The thing that separates this team is the physical mentality of the Wolfpack. Running back T.A. McLendon is one of the best freshman backs in the country. He has 635 yards on the season (4.8 ypc) and 12 TDs. He bring a physical, hard, determined running presence behind a revamped offensive line. Guards Shane Riggs and Sean Locklear are converted defensive linemen and they bring that D mentality to the line. In fact, they're kind of nasty. It's a physical group that takes pride in knockdown blocks. They watch those together as a team and it fires up everyone. This season, they have 357 knockdowns on 536 snaps, an average of 44.6 per game.

With the way NC State spreads it out throwing the ball and with the physical running game led by McLendon and a tough O-line, this is a tough offense to defend.

For Clemson, how well it plays up front is the key. DTs Nick Eason and Bryant McNeal have four and five sacks, respectively. Can they get pressure on Rivers? Rivers is rarely sacked. He's physical, strong and gets rid of the ball quickly. He's not the kind of guy who makes a lot of mistakes, so they need to make sure they at least get pressure on him and force him to get rid of the ball sooner than he would like to. They need to make him uncomfortable.

In the secondary, watch Brian Mance. He seemed to have lost his confidence last year, but under first-year defensive coordinator John Lovett's new scheme, he seems to have his confidence back. He has four interceptions this year and will match up with the NC State receivers.

When McLendon runs, it's going to be up to guys like Brondon Jamison, Altroy Bodrick and Rodney Thomas to make the plays. They need to be very aware of McLendon, chase him down and by physical enough to make tackles for short gains.

Is Tigers' Bite Back?
Clemson's offense has been inconsistent this year. The times it has been able to turn Willie Simmons loose is when the Tigers have been most effective. At times, Clemson is its own worst enemy. It gets too conservative and this is a game it needs to be aggressive against a really good defense.

Spotlight Player

NC State's Philip Rivers Rivers is the one who makes this team go both physically and emotionally. How well he plays will dictate what kind of game NC State has on the road. His leadership -- and his ability to handle the Clemson pass rush -- will be one of the keys to this game. Clemson WR Derrick Hamilton It's obvious the Tigers will try to get the multi-talented Hamilton more involved in the game plan. How well NC State DBs -- mainly Lamont Reid and Marcus Hudson -- play against Hamilton and the crew of Tigers WRs will be a big matchup.

After Charlie Whitehurst played some in the last two weeks, there was some talk about there being a QB controversy at Clemson. There's not. Because of the experience Simmons brings to this game, Clemson coaches reiterated that there is no question who's the QB of this team. But, if Simmons does struggle, the coaches won't hesitate to put Whitehurst in. It will be interesting to see how Simmons handles this.

The guy to watch on Clemson is Derrick Hamilton. He leads the ACC in all-purpose yards and considering he just has 278 receiving yards, that shows how much the Tigers try to get the ball in his hands. Whether it's on quick passes, reverses, punt returns or kick returns, there are a variety of ways to get him the ball and he's a threat to take it all the way every time he touches the ball. Expect Hamilton to be more involved in the game plan tonight.

Both teams have a lot of depth and quality at receivers. With guys like Kevin Youngblood, J.J. McKelvey, , Hamilton, Jackie Robinson, Tony Elliot and even Airese Curry, this a group of six playmakers on the outside.

NC State is incredibly athletic on defense. Amato brought the FSU mentality with him, meaning speed, speed and more speed on defense. Shawn Price is the prototypical end you'd expect to see at FSU, but he's now at NC State. He's 6-2, 235 pounds and is fast. He has five sacks on the year. Also watch LB Dantonio Burnette. He has 15 tackles for loss, including 8 sacks. NC State's defense is based on confusion. The Wolfpack will walk up different players and give Clemson different looks in an effort to confuse Simmons. Burnette will be a big part of that.

The secondary features three sophomores, but senior Terrence Holt is the leader of this athletic group. Holt, the little brother of St. Louis Rams and former NC State WR Torry Holt, is athletic, a solid safety and a special teams monster. You'll see him all over the place tonight.

One More Thing. . .
With the way the Heisman race is wide open, a great performance tonight on national TV on the road in a tough enviornment would without question catapault Philip Rivers as a serious player for the Heisman.

The Bottom Line
On one hand, you have a Clemson team that has to take advantage of the opportunity of playing at home in a must-win situation for the program. NC State has an opportunity to prove on national TV that they are a legit national championship-caliber team. It will come down to similar styles offense. Both QBs will make their share of plays, but the team that runs the ball -- be it McLendon and NC State or Bernard Rambert or Yusef Kelly of Clemson -- will win this game.

Kirk Herbstreit is an analyst for ESPN's Thursday Night Football as well as ESPN College GameDay.