PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- Rutgers has been a hot topic for No. 23 South Florida for a while.
Forget that the Scarlet Knights have beaten the Bulls three straight times, including a stunning 30-27 decision two years ago when USF was ranked No. 2 in the nation.
Even more annoying is the memory of last year's 49-16 win by Rutgers. Not only did it give the Scarlet Knights the fourth victory in what end up being a season-ending seven-game winning streak, it was a game in which South Florida thought that coach Greg Schiano's team ran up the score.
South Florida (6-2, 2-2 Big East) will get a chance to get even on Thursday night when it travels New Jersey to face Rutgers (6-2, 1-2).
Linebacker Kion Wilson said coach Jim Leavitt has been talking about Rutgers since the Bulls reported to training camp.
"He has always mentioned the Rutgers game, and how bad we lost it. How we were embarrassed," said Wilson, who said there is no doubt that the Scarlet Knights didn't take their foot off the pedal once they had the lead.
"It is (motivation)," Wilson said. "Basically, hopefully we can get our offense to stay on the field the majority of the night. Defense, hopefully we can go out and make big plays, force turnovers, give the offense the ball and allow them the chance to score."
South Florida quarterback B.J. Daniels could only watch last year's game since Matt Grothe was the quarterback last season.
"Rutgers was a game that we definitely marked on our calendar after how they beat us last year," Daniels said, adding he felt Rutgers rubbed it in.
Scarlet Knights center Ryan Blaszczyk insists no one is paying attention to what South Florida players are saying about last season.
"It's just words," Blaszczyk said. "We don't really care about that. We just want to get out there and play our game and be the best we can be. If we go out there and play our best, that should be enough."
Schiano denied Rutgers ran up the score, noting it was 21-16 late in the first half.
"That thing was nip-and-tuck," Schiano said. "It looks like a game that we didn't stop them the whole time. All we did was we got some takeaways. But schematically or actually stopping them on downs, I don't know how many times we made them punt. They had over 400 yards of offense."
Both schools have a chance to become bowl eligible with a win. Both need seven wins this season because each has two wins over Football Championship Subdivision opponents this season and the NCAA allows only one in determining bowl eligibility.
Rutgers task will be to slow down Daniels, who threw for 232 yards and ran 104 more yards 10 days ago when the Bulls beat West Virginia 30-19 to snap a two-game losing streak.
"He can make something out of nothing at any given moment," Rutgers safety Joe Lefeged said. "He's very dangerous. You can have him contained, you can make great coverage. He still has the ability to make plays. That's the most dangerous thing about him."
The Scarlet Knights should also present problems for Daniels, the redshirt freshman who became the starting quarterback after Grothe suffered a season-ending knee injury in September.
Offensive coordinator Mike Canales said the Bulls have spent all season preparing for Rutgers defense, which has forced 25 turnovers this season.
"They're a heavy blitz team," he said. "(They) create so many different looks, so you've got to try to put yourself in a position through formations or what not to try to eliminate the number of blitzes."
The game will feature an interesting matchup between South Florida defensive end George Selvie and Rutgers offensive tackle Anthony Davis, speed rusher against NFL-prototype lineman.
Davis' job will be to protect freshman quarterback Tom Savage, who has thrown for 1,341 yards and eight touchdowns. Senior Tim Brown lead the Scarlet Knights receivers, averaging 101.4 yards per game and 21.9 yard a catch.
Leavitt said Daniels and Savage are very different.
"We run a spread offense and quarterback is going to run and throw. At least try to," he said. "Their quarterback can run, but that's not what they're wanting to do. They're going to hand the ball off and let him throw to some exceptional receivers."