LAS VEGAS -- A torn ACL denied Frank Moore a shot at making an NFL roster when he left Pitt as the Panthers' defensive lineman of the year in 1997.

Instead, Moore recovered from knee surgery and carved out a successful career in the Arena League.

Tomorrow, he hopes to help the underdog Chicago Rush upset the Orlando Predators at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas at ArenaBowl XX (3 p.m. WPXI).

Moore has no regrets.

"My fourth game as a senior I injured my knee and I sat out games at Notre Dame and Temple, and then they put a brace on me and I played out the season," he said.

"Then, I was out for a year, so I went straight to Arena Football and I've been doing it ever since. That first year was when I met my wife, Dorothy, which never would have happened if I'd been somewhere else in the NFL."

Moore's previous bowl appearance was Pitt's Liberty Bowl loss against Southern Miss, which ended his college career. He believes the showcase for the indoor league's ultimate prize is more prestigious.

"This is as high as you can get in the Arena League, so it means more and it just seems like this is bigger," he said. "I don't know how many college bowls there are, but there seem to be a lot. Unless you're in one of the major bowls or playing for a national championship, they don't mean as much. You can have a 6-5 record and still be in a bowl game."

The Rush qualified for the Arena League playoffs despite a losing record. A dubious 7-9 regular season led to a challenging postseason schedule, but three wins away from home earned the coveted visit to Vegas.

"Every game was on the road to teams that we've lost to before, and we didn't have a good road record this year," Moore said. "We were 2-6 and then to come into the playoffs and beat Nashville and Colorado away and then San Jose in their house -- that was incredible, and nobody expected us to do it.

"The last couple of years we've been getting to the semifinals, and this year we finally get a chance to play that final game.

"I think the turning point was when our GM got up and spoke and said he saw people doing certain things that weren't going to help us win football games, and, since then, we've been winning. I think that really started it off."

Moore will line up on both sides of the ball in Las Vegas, a discipline demanded of most Arena League players. The transition from the position in which he excelled in college to a foreign one proved challenging.

"I was a defensive lineman coming out of Pittsburgh and now I play mostly offense," he said. "The biggest thing I had to learn was how to block. As a defensive lineman, you're used to going at people, but, on offense, you have to sit and wait.

"That's one of the biggest problems you see, that a defensive lineman is too aggressive when he makes the switch. You've got to be patient."

Patience is a virtue Moore has observed since 1997 and the Liberty Bowl. Now, it is his time to receive some reward and recognition for his endurance.