North Carolina coach Butch Davis talks with defensive end E.J. Wilson when the Tar Heels played Miami in late September.

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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — North Carolina's decade-long rebuilding project is showing signs of traction, complete with the Tar Heels' first national ranking in seven years. The biggest thing missing right now for coach Butch Davis' club is a win against a big-name opponent.

Notre Dame and its storied tradition provides that opportunity, not to mention a buzz, considering the Fighting Irish are making their first trip to the state in more than 30 years.

In that sense, today's matchup is about a lot more than just one game — even if Davis wants to treat it that way. It's symbolic of where the No. 22 Tar Heels really are, and whether they are ready to handle the prosperity that has been missing for a long time.

"We're enjoying it, no doubt," said Cameron Sexton, North Carolina's starting quarterback. "Football is a lot of hard work and to have success now, we're definitely enjoying it. But on the flip side ... we've gone back to work on Notre Dame. You've got to enjoy the wins and stop thinking about the losses. We've moved on now."

While his team has won two straight since losing starting QB T.J. Yates to injury, Davis has been quick to brush off questions about the significance of a midseason ranking.

"The ranking is nice, I'm not going to deny that," he said. "I think everybody likes the fact that there is some recognition for the hard work and the things we're doing and the direction of the program. But as far as the significance right now, it really doesn't have much."

● BYU quarterback Max Hall says there's no need to panic yet. The ninth-ranked Cougars were bound to slow down eventually. BYU (5-0, 1-0 Mountain West) hosts New Mexico (3-3, 1-1) today and the Cougars will be trying to tweak a few mistakes they made last week in a 34-14 win at Utah State.

"I think our offense needed to see that we're going to make a mistake every once in a while. We're going to drop a few balls. I'm going to throw an interception. We're going to miss a block," Hall said. "It was good for us to kind of see that, to learn from it."

It wasn't that BYU played poorly at Utah State. The Cougars just didn't play as well as they had in shutouts over Wyoming and UCLA.

● Clemson coach Tommy Bowden is changing quarterbacks, benching preseason ACC player of the year Cullen Harper in favor of backup Willy Korn.

Bowden says he made the decision Friday afternoon after watching tape of the Tigers' 12-7 loss at Wake Forest the night before. The Tigers play next at home against Georgia Tech on Oct. 18.