It didn’t take long for the naysayers to come out of the woodwork and declare the 2008 Virginia football season officially over.

For varying reasons, three Virginia football players found the ability to flash smiles after Saturday’s lopsided loss to Southern California.

On Monday, Virginia officials announced that Aaron Clark had been lost for the season

An impending date with the University of Richmond may have never looked so appealing.

The third-ranked Trojans methodically dismantled Virginia, 52-7, delivering the Cavaliers their worst season-opening setback since 1984.

For the past eight months, as players came and went for varying reasons, Virginia’s football program had a true attention-getter to prepare for: a season-opening date with vaunted Southern California.

In perhaps the biggest home opener in nearly a quarter of a century, the nation’s best football program over the past six years will bring a national spotlight to Charlottesville. While the oddsmakers and the naysayers don’t give Groh’s Cavaliers a snowball’s chance, don’t tell the Wahoos.

For the sixth time in as many seasons, Virginia is set to add another member to the high-profile club Saturday as it entertains third-ranked Southern California at Scott Stadium.

Moments after Virginia’s embarrassing performance in a season-opening game at Pittsburgh in 2006, a member of Virginia’s offense placed the blame on his unit’s poor preseason preparation.

The current crop of Cavaliers has faced some great athletes and some great teams over the past three or four years, but they haven’t faced anything quite like what’s coming to town this weekend.

At this point, a total of 410 media credentials have been issued, a figure that includes television personnel for the national broadcast and 15 NFL scouts.

Point is, football is a lot more fun when teams are competing against the best and that’s what this Saturday is all about. Southern California, the best college football program in the country this decade, comes to town for a 3:30 p.m. showdown with Al Groh’s Wahoos.

Virginia coach Al Groh announced the winner of a heated three-way battle for a starting spot in the Cavaliers’ season opener Aug. 30 against No. 3 Southern California. The position pegged, however, was not nearly as glamorous as the most anticipated battle up for grabs.

The hush policy will likely continue until a candidate is named publicly or emerges to take the first snap against third-ranked Southern California on August 30.

Burrell, now a junior, earned early playing time last year and made his first — and only — sack against Duke. But he could not crack the starting lineup as his close friend, Jermaine Dias, kept first-team status.