OVC PLAY FIGURES TO HEAT UP THIS WEEKEND (OVC NOTES)

Ohio Valley Conference football play gets going in earnest this weekend.

After only a pair of league games in the first three weeks of the season, there will be three conference matchups Saturday.

Two of the OVC contests are of particular interest because they feature teams who are expected to be among the major contenders for the league championship.

Defending champion and preseason favorite Eastern Kentucky opens conference play by visiting Middle Tennessee, which already has a league victory under its belt.

Eastern Illinois, picked to finish second in the OVC, plays host to Tennessee Tech, which is considered one of the conference's rising squads. It will be the league opener for both teams.

Saturday's other league game -- Tennessee-Martin at Southeast Missouri -- will pit the two teams that finished at the bottom of the OVC standings last season and are picked to do so again this year, although both have hopes of moving up.

UT-Martin, last in the OVC a year ago and picked to finish there again, will be playing its league opener. Southeast Missouri already has one league loss, but the Indians played impressively in falling to powerhouse Murray State.

* Speaking of Murray State, the 3-0 Racers -- the OVC's highest-ranked team at No. 10 in this week's Sports Network poll -- face quite a challenge Saturday when they visit perennial I-A power Brigham Young.

Saturday's other game around the conference features Tennessee State facing 16th-ranked Florida A&M in Atlanta.

* In addition to Murray State, other nationally ranked OVC teams this week are Eastern Kentucky (No. 12) and Eastern Illinois (No. 25).

* Eastern Kentucky tailback Cory Crume and Eastern Illinois safety Antwan Perry are the OVC offensive and defensive players of the week.

Crume rushed for 133 yards and scored two touchdowns in a big win over Western Kentucky.

Perry had 10 tackles and forced a fumble against Northern Illinois.