Now that the temperatures are falling and it feels like football weather, the time has come for some teams to rise in the playoff picture and others to fall.

That's the story line when unranked Edinboro (5-1, 2-0) plays at No. 24 IUP (4-1, 1-1) today at 2 p.m. in a game that will have an impact on the race in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West and the wild scramble for bids to the NCAA Division II playoffs.

The National rankings are fun for fans but have no bearing on the playoff picks, which will be determined by regional rankings. IUP is third and Edinboro ninth in the Northeast Region, which will send the top six teams to the playoffs.

"We know a loss would really hurt us," Edinboro coach Scott Browning said. "But you can't go into a game worrying about things like that."

Edinboro, which has won five in a row following a 32-16 loss to West Chester in the opener, is coming off a 70-19 victory against Lock Haven in which sophomore quarterback Trevor Harris threw for 340 yards and three touchdowns and set a school record for consecutive completions in a game by connecting on his first 15 passes. He played just one series of downs in the second half.

Harris was named co-West Division offensive player of the week and the 70 points was third highest in school history behind 74 against Mercyhurst in 1983 and 83 against Alliance in 1928.

Edinboro leads the PSAC in scoring (43.3 ppg) and passing offense (303.3 yards per game). Nine different players have caught at least one touchdown pass, led by Ryan Rybicki's 31 catches for 272 yards and five touchdowns. The leading rusher is Houston Brown with 425 yards and seven touchdowns.

IUP, coming off a 38-12 loss to California, has a high-power passing attack of its own with Andrew Krewatch throwing for 1,311 yards and 10 touchdowns.

The Crimson Hawks will be throwing against an Edinoro defense that allows 244.8 passing yards per game to rank 12th out of the 13 teams in the PSAC.

IUP is the second-highest scoring team in the league with 41.8 points per game.

Other games:

Duquesne (3-2) at Saint Francis (0-4), 1 p.m. -- Duquesne has won three in a row since Kevin Rombach replaced Scott Knapp at quarterback, with Rombach throwing for 300 or more yards in each game. A redshirt sophomore, Rombach ranks fifth nationally in 1-AA with 322 total yards of offense per game. ... Duquesne has won eight consecutive games against Saint Francis.

Robert Morris (3-3) at Central Conn. State (3-2) , 1 p.m. -- Robert Morris has won seven consecutive games on the road and Central Connecticut State has won 10 in a row at home. ... The Blue Devils average 33.6 points and 285.4 yards rushing per game and the Colonials average 15.8 points and 78.8 yards on the ground.

Waynesburg (5-0, 2-0) at Bethany (2-3, 0-2), 2 p.m. -- Waynesburg, 5-0 for the first time since 1978, features tailback Robert Heller, a freshman from Ringgold High who leads Division III in rushing yards (1,040), rushing yards per game (208.0) and scoring (19.2 ppg).

Case Western Reserve (5-0) at Carnegie Mellon (2-3), noon -- Carnegie Mellon has lost three in a row for the first time since 1974, which was the last time the Tartans lost four in a row. The Tartans lost the final five games in 1974 for a 3-5 record for their last non-winning season. ... Case Western is 5-0 for the first time since going 9-0 in 1984. ... Carnegie Mellon ranks ninth in Division III with 293.8 rushing yards per game and Case Western allows 82.4 yards rushing.

California (6-0) at Lock Haven (0-6), 2 p.m. -- California remained 11th in the American Football Coaches Association Division II poll and is No. 1 in the Northeast Region for the first time. ... California leads the country in scoring defense (6.8 ppg).

W&J (5-0) at Westminster (3-2), 1:30 p.m. -- Washington & Jefferson is ranked eighth in Division III and fifth in scoring with 45.2 points per game. ... Quarterback Bobby Swallow leads the country in passing efficiency with a 238.1 rating and is fifth with 325.7 passing yards per game. Swallow had his streak of consecutive pass attempts without an interception ended at 163 dating to last season when he was intercepted in the third quarter of a 28-12 victory against Thiel last week. For the season, Swallow has completed 85 of 119 for 1,520 yards and 22 touchdowns.