One of the premier performers in the Big East and the nation was hit with a season-ending injury Sunday night. Louisville running back Michael Bush, a dark horse in the Heisman Trophy race, broke his right leg in the third quarter of Louisville's win over Kentucky and will miss the remainder of the season.

"It's a tough, tough injury for him," Louisville coach Bobby Petrino said Monday. "He trained extremely hard. He had a great summer and was doing a nice job of leading our football team."

Bush underwent surgery Monday morning to repair his right tibia, Petrino said, and the senior is expected to make a full recovery. Bush, who contemplated entering the NFL Draft after his junior season, could apply for a medical redshirt and return to Louisville for one more season or he could opt to join the professional ranks after his recovery.

Bush was off to a great start before doing down. He had rushed 17 times for 128 yards and three touchdowns, nearly all of which came in the first half of the Cardinals' 59-28 win. Bush led the nation in scoring last season, getting 23 rushing touchdowns and averaging 14.4 points per game overall.

Bush's replacement could be one player or a tandem of backs.

"That's yet to be seen, but I do feel real good about the group of running backs that we have," Petrino said.

Petrino called senior Kolby Smith an "extremely quick, very exciting runner who makes a lot of big plays." The coach also praised sophomore George Stripling as a

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player who "can hit the home run. He's very, very fast."

NUZIE GETS NOD — UConn kicker Matt Nuzie made the most of all his opportunities during the Huskies' 52-7 rout of Rhode Island Thursday. Monday he was honored for that effort by the Big East, earning special teams player of the week.

Nuzie was 7-for-7 on extra points, tying his career best, and also hit a 41-yard field goal. The senior from Trumbull is UConn's career leader in extra points (118), field goals (42) and points scored (244).

This is the second time Nuzie has earned such an honor from the Big East. His previous selection came after UConn's first-ever Big East conference win, a 29-17 triumph over Pittsburgh Sept. 30, 2004. In that game Nuzie hit all three of his field goal attempts, including a 49-yarder as the first half ended.

BIG SKY DREAMS — A number of people took notice when two members of the Division I-AA Big Sky Conference knocked off Division I-A teams this weekend. Chief among them was a man whose team will be facing a Big Sky group this weekend.

After Portland State beat New Mexico and Montana State stunned Colorado, West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez began squirming a bit over his team's game Saturday against Eastern Washington.

"And Eastern Washington's been the best team in that league the last couple of years," Rodriguez lamented with a laugh.

It's not the first time the Big Sky has turned such a double play. On Sept. 9, 2000, two Big Sky teams upset Division I-A teams as Montana beat Idaho 45-38 and Portland State beat Hawaii 45-20.

Eastern Washington has won each of the last two Big Sky championships and has appeared in the playoffs each of those seasons, too.

QB CONUNDRUM — Two league schools played multiple quarterbacks in Week 1, and at least one of them will continue to employ a two-headed quarterback attack.

Cincinnati sophomore Dustin Grutza started for his team, completing 9-of-15 passes for 161 yards and a touchdown. He was aided by senior Nick Davila, who hit on 10-of-19 passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns.

Cincinnati beat Eastern Kentucky 31-0 Saturday.

Though Grutza will start again, it's likely Davila will again see action this week in the Bearcats' league opener against Pittsburgh.

"We'll probably look to use two. Both players performed pretty well," Cincinnati coach Mark Dantonio said.

South Florida senior Pat Julmiste started against McNeese State Saturday, but he went down with a thigh bruise and was replaced by freshman Matt Grothe. Grothe finished the day 9-of-13 for 171 yards. He threw for two scores and ran for another.

"He did awfully well," USF coach Jim Leavitt said. "But I thought Pat did some good things as well."

Who will start for the Bulls this week is still unclear.

"I'm not going to say anything until we meet with our quarterbacks," Leavitt said early Monday. "It's just too big of a thing."

EXTRA POINTS — It's early, of course, but UConn leads the nation in rushing yards (418.0 per game) and is third in total offense (567.0). ... Cincinnati's win over Eastern Kentucky was the Bearcats' first shutout victory since a 16-0 win over Virginia Tech Sept. 16, 1995, a span of 123 games.