Remember Temple?

Who?

OK, that's an old, stale joke.

Just like the Owls' football team for a generation or more.

That could be changing at long last. We could be looking at one of the better feel-good stories in sports.

Temple seems to be getting its act together under second-year coach Al Golden, a former Penn State star tight end.

"We've seen definite, tangible progress," Golden said this week after three consecutive wins in the Owls' new league, the Mid-American Conference, including last week's 24-17 victory against Miami (Ohio).

It's the school's first three-game winning streak since 1990. And possibly a sign the program has come off life support.

The streak leaves Temple at 3-5. The Owls have an open weekend before they play at Ohio, also 3-5, Friday, Penn State a week after that, and Kent State (3-5) and Western Michigan (3-5) to close out what could represent a monumental achievement for the Owls.

Unless you have no heart, you have to be pulling at least a little for Temple to win those last three MAC games to become bowl eligible.

Yeah, that's probably far-fetched, especially when you remember that it is something of an upset that the Owls are still fielding a football team.

They last went to a postseason game in 1979, the long-forgotten Garden State Bowl, and last had a winning season in 1990.

Then, in 1991, they joined the Big East, a league that needed football teams but eventually decided it was too good for Temple, even at a time when the conference was being torn apart and scrambling to preserve its identity.

Sure, the Owls struggled for several years in the Big East and contributed to the nickname Big Least. So did Rutgers, which had similar overall and conference records to Temple through the 1990s and early 2000s.

So did Pitt for a stretch of years in the 1990s. Panthers fans surely remember losses to Temple in 1995, '97 and '98.

Bobby Wallace was doing things the right way and led the Owls to consecutive four-win seasons in 2001 and 2002, but the impending loss of the team's Big East affiliation killed any rebuilding momentum.

Without a lot of promise to offer recruits, without conference bowl or television revenue, Temple had no chance as an independent in 2005 and last season, finishing a combined 1-22.

It would serve the Big East right if Temple blossomed into a competitive team and delivered its Philadelphia TV market to the MAC.

The Big East bailed on Temple just when the days of what Golden calls the "monopoly" era of college football were waning.

Without taking a breath, Golden can reel off a list of schools that in the past couple years have sprung from nowhere to get national attention for fielding successful teams -- Boise State, Hawaii, Troy State and the Big East's Connecticut and, of course, Rutgers.

It wasn't easy for Rutgers. It won't be easy for Temple.

"We've been slaying demons," said Golden, who is taking his young team through his stages of learning to compete.

Against Miami, the Owls played 21 freshmen.

There was a setback in the Miami game. Second-year starting quarterback Adam DiMichele, a Sto-Rox High School graduate, broke his left leg in the second quarter and had to have season-ending surgery. The Owls have turned to sophomore Vaughn Carlton, who has three career starts.

But it's not really about this season. Wait a couple years.

Golden is one of the youngest major-college coaches at 38, but he's old enough to remember a few decent Temple teams.

"We played them annually when I was at Penn State," he said. "Almost always they were one of the most physical games we played."

Golden said Penn State coach Joe Paterno "has had as much impact on my life as anybody."

Golden has his own ideas, too, and isn't modeling the Owls after any other school.

At least he has the outline of a real team to work with now. Being in the MAC helps.

"We're on TV six times," Golden said. "Now imagine when we start winning."

Imagine it. The Golden era of Temple football has a nice ring to it.