Rebels say plenty on line vs. UNR

Steve Guiremand

Friday, Oct. 1, 1999 | 10:43 a.m.

On paper, Saturday afternoon's game between winless Nevada-Reno (0-4) and UNLV (2-2) at Mackay Stadium looks like just your run-of-the-mill college football game.

But don't try telling the players that.

The North vs. South in-state battle for the Fremont Cannon is the biggest game of the season. Just ask Rebel senior wide receiver Len Ware.

Ware, who was on crutches Sunday and Monday after twisting his knee and ankle in last week's 52-14 Mountain West Conference loss to Utah, said he probably won't know until game time whether he can play or not.

Bet on No. 3 at least trying to play.

"I'd rather play this game and miss the rest of the season than not play in this game and play the rest of the season," Ware said following Thursday afternoon's workout at Rebel Park. "This is not the time for this to happen.

"It's big," Ware continued. "You bring home the cannon to Vegas, everybody remembers that, you know what I mean? It's not just for myself, but for the city, for the school."

This is Ware's last chance at trying to bring home the cannon. The Rebels have lost all four years to the Wolf Pack since he arrived.

"You never want to leave your school saying that you never beat your rival, that your rival school kicked your (butt) every year. You never want to do that."

Junior safety Randy Black, a Clark High graduate, agrees.

"Being from (Las Vegas), I remember hearing the cannon go off and I haven't heard that in so long," Black said. "After we win Saturday, I'm not shaking any hands. I'm just going to go get the cannon because that's the correct thing to do."

"I can't wait," quarterback Jason Vaughan, who grew up in Georgia, said. "These games are always the most fun. There's more on the line than just a game. Even though I'm new to this rivalry, I can still feel (the emotion)."

Nevada-Reno, which hasn't lost to UNLV at home since 1979, is also looking at Saturday's game as one that could turn around a very disappointing season.

"UNLV is a big game for the team, the town, the school," Wolf Pack quarterback David Neill said.

"(The UNLV game) is the season, obviously," Nevada-Reno coach Jeff Tisdel said. "We need confidence. And the only way you get confidence is winning."

* REBEL NOTES: Nevada-Reno wide receiver Trevor Insley, a former teammate at San Clemente (Calif.) High School of UNLV backup quarterback Chris Hayward, has 56 receptions for 805 yards in just four games and is on pace to break single-season and career NCAA Division I records for catches and yardage. "He's a special player. We didn't do enough to stop him," Fresno State coach Pat Hill said after watching Insley catch 12 passes for 205 yards and one touchdown last week. "We knew he was going to get the ball and we still couldn't stop him." The Wolf Pack moves Insley all over the field, so more than one UNLV defender will be covering him Saturday. "He might get his catches, but he's not going to get his 200 yards," Rebel cornerback Kevin Thomas said. "If we shut him down, it's all downhill." ... UNLV coach John Robinson said Ware, who ranks fourth nationally in kickoff returns with a 35.1 average, won't return kicks Saturday. Wide receivers Duane James and Troy Mason will take over that role. Robinson said it will be a game-time decision about whether Ware plays at all. ... Terry Cottle, UNLV's associate athletic director in charge of sports marketing, said more than 24,000 tickets have already been sold for UNLV's next home game, Oct. 23, against BYU. ... Robinson promised to bring the Fremont Cannon to his radio show at the Club Madrid at the Sunset Station hotel-casino on Monday night at 9:30 p.m. if the Rebels win. ... Nevada-Reno holds a 14-10 edge in the series including 10 of the last 11.