Now it gets serious for teams in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, with IUP playing at Slippery Rock at 6 p.m. today in what promises to be the first in a series of entertaining showdowns in the wild West Division.

The West basically is a two-tiered division, with California (4-0), IUP (3-0), Edinboro (3-1) and Slippery Rock (4-0) in the upper portion and Clarion (0-4), Shippensburg (0-4) and Lock Haven (0-4) huddled together on the second level.

"There are going to be a lot of important games to be played before anything is decided," said IUP coach Lou Tepper, whose Crimson Hawks are back in the Division II rankings after a two-year hiatus. "This is just the beginning."

IUP leads the country in scoring with 54.5 points per game, with the defense scoring four touchdowns and the special teams two.

The offensive catalysts have been two players who didn't play for IUP last season, quarterback Andrew Krewatch and running back Poohbear McNeal. Krewatch, a redshirt sophomore from North Allegheny, sat out last year after being a starter as a freshman in 2005. He has completed 55.6 percent of his passes for 748 yards and six touchdowns.

McNeal, a senior who transferred to IUP after Mansfield dropped football after the 2006 season, is Mansfield's all-time rusher with 3,601 yards. He has rushed for a team-high 247 yards (5.9 per carry average) and three touchdowns despite limited playing time because of nagging injuries and the lopsided margins of victory.

"We will use him more for these upcoming games," Tepper said. "We wanted to get him as healthy as we could."

IUP's offense will be challenged by a Slippery Rock defense that allows 11.2 points per game. Offensively, the Rock features quarterback Nate Crookshank (811 yards passing, 9 TDs) and running back Corey Manfull (624 yards rushing, 8 TDs), the leading rusher in the PSAC.

IUP is coming off a 45-0 victory against Millersville that was its first shutout since a 17-0 victory against Shippensburg in 2004.

Other games:

Missouri State (3-1) at Youngstown State (3-1), 6 p.m. -- This is the first Gateway Football Conference game for defending Gateway champion Youngstown State, ranked 10th in Division I-AA and winner of three in a row after opening the season with a 38-6 loss at Ohio State. The Penguins are led by Tom Zetts (539 yards passing, three TDs) and Jabari Scott (302 yards rushing, three TDs). ... Missouri State freshman quarterback Cody Kirby was named the conference's offensive player of the week in his first collegiate start. He threw for 247 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 40 yards and three touchdowns in a 42-38 victory against Central Arkansas. ... Missouri State, whose only loss was 61-10 against Kansas State, has averaged 55.5 points in victories against Missouri-Rolla, Tennessee-Martin and Central Arkansas.

Frostburg State (1-2) at Duquesne (1-2), 1 p.m. -- Duquesne swept the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference weekly awards with quarterback Kevin Rombach the Offensive Player, cornerback Aaron Strader (Westinghouse) Defensive Player and linebacker Nathan Totino (Seton-LaSalle) Rookie for their performances in a 30-23 overtime victory at Sacred Heart. Rombach, who replaced Scott Knapp and made his first start of the season, completed 29 of 41 passes for 316 yards and a touchdown. Strader intercepted a pass in the end zone on Sacred Heart's possession in overtime and Totino made a game-high 14 tackles. ... Division III Frostburg was added to Duquesne's schedule when Saint Peter's discontinued its program. Frostburg is coming off a 38-7 loss against SUNY Brockport.

VMI (1-3) at Robert Morris (3-1), 1 p.m. -- The Colonials have won three in a row and the Keydets have lost three consecutive games. ... Robert Morris has outscored its opponents in the third quarter, 27-0. ... After not having a takeaway in the first two games, the Colonials have had five each in the past two games with six interceptions and four recovered fumbles. ... Senior split end Alvin Hill had career highs with seven catches and 164 yards in Robert Morris' 9-8 victory at Morehead State last week.

W&J (3-0) at Saint Vincent (0-3), 1:30 p.m. -- W&J quarterback Bobby Swallow leads all NCAA divisions in passing efficiency with a 259.6 rating. He has completed 51 of 70 for 967 yards and 15 TDs and hasn't been intercepted.

Thomas More (2-1) at Waynesburg (3-0), 2:30 p.m. -- Waynesburg's Robert Heller, a freshman from Ringgold, leads all NCAA divisions with 239.3 yards rushing per game. He averages 6.1 yards per carry and has scored 12 TDs.