Those Games in Beijing provided a nice little diversion, and the last Bees homestand got us through those recent nights where there was no Michael Phelps race to watch. Last Friday's season-opening high school games whetted our appetites.

But for thousands of Utah sports fans, the really good stuff rolls into their mindsets this week.

A new season is dawning.

The long wait is almost over, as all five of the state's four-year college football programs get their seasons under way in a few short days.

"This is my favorite time of year," said BYU defensive end Jan Jorgensen. "I'm pumped. We started watching [film] and I started getting butterflies in my stomach and everything. I'm a college football junkie, and I'm in heaven."

Aren't we all?

Two schools in particular - BYU and Utah - are expecting heavenly seasons, while Utah State would just settle for mediocrity in the quest to save coach Brent Guy's job. Weber State gets a head start on what could be coach Ron McBride's last hurrah, playing Thursday against Montana-Western, while Southern Utah begins the Ed Lamb era after going winless in 2007 under the departed Wes Meier.

The big opener this year - and one that would take that distinction almost any year - is Saturday when the Utes travel to Ann Arbor to take on perennial college football power Michigan in the Big House, as the Wolverines' haunt is widely known.

"You take one look at those amazing blue helmets and see the Wolverines and all the history of that great program and you have to be excited," Utah quarterback Brian Johnson said.

Even the most ardent BYU fans will acknowledge that the Utes will have the state's attention this Saturday, as their home contest against a lower-division team, Northern Iowa, pales in comparison.

"The Utah-Michigan game probably will take the spotlight from us, but that's OK," Jorgensen said. "Utah is going into the Big House, and they have a chance to do something big. It's going to be a big thing here in Utah for everybody to be able to watch and see how Utah does."

Utah linebacker Stevenson Sylvester said the matchup has the Utes more excited than ever.

"Oh, yeah, everybody knows it's a big game," he said. "The TV, the attention it gets, it's great, different than playing a conference team for us."

Cougar quarterback Max Hall wishes he could watch it, but BYU's game starts 2 1/2 hours after that and his attention will obviously be focused on preparations for the Panthers.

The Cougars will get their moments later, as they travel to Washington for a showdown with the Pac-10 team on Sept. 6 and then play host to UCLA the following week.

As for the Utes, they believe a win at Michigan could lead to something big, much like that 41-21 win over Texas A&M in an opener led to their undefeated 2004 season.

"Anytime you play such a familiar school, [one that] everybody knows what their helmet is, you've got to be ready to play," Johnson said.

College football analyst Kirk Herbstreit of ESPN said as much in a conference call last week, noting that if the Utes and Cougars want national respect and attention, they need to win these pivotal nonconference road games.

"The only way you can do that [get national recognition] is go and win big games," he said. "If BYU and Utah start fast - they will probably be underdogs - that is a great way to have this conference say, 'We're no longer going to be overlooked.' That is one way to do it, and who knows, throw TCU in there as a third team, playing Oklahoma."

While BYU's opener isn't as flashy, expectations in Provo are possibly at an all-time high, as evidenced by record season-ticket sales, and the matchup with the Football Championship Subdivision foe that is ranked No. 4 in the country in that division will likely be a sellout.

"I think Northern Iowa, the more I learn about them, the more impressed I am," BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said.

In Logan, the heat is on the Aggies, and not just because they open against UNLV in Las Vegas, where kickoff temperatures are expected to be in the mid-90s. Utah State didn't get a win last year until November, snapping a 16-game losing streak at New Mexico State, and a similar start would be disastrous.

Weber State has lost momentum after a strong start in McBride's first year, and would like to show well on Sept. 27 when it travels to Utah for McBride's homecoming, of sorts.

With the state's longest losing streak, Southern Utah just needs a win, something unlikely to happen Saturday at Air Force. However, Adams State travels to Cedar City in Week 2. If the Thunderbirds can't end their misery against the Division II Grizzlies, they are seemingly in for another long year.

Whichever team you pull for, optimism is running high - at least for one more week.

"I could play tomorrow," said BYU's Hall. "We've been waiting for this week for eight months."

drew@sltrib.com

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* LYA WODRASKA contributed to this report.

THURSDAY'S GAME

* Montana-Western at Weber State, 7:05 p.m.

'Cats open with a cakewalk

SATURDAY'S GAMES

* Southern Utah at Air Force, 12:05 p.m.

Ed Lamb era opens against an MWC foe

* Utah at Michigan, 1:30 p.m., Ch. 4

Big upset brewing in Big House?

* Northern Iowa at BYU, 4 p.m., the mtn.

Cougs tune up for Pac-10 land mines

* Utah State at UNLV, 8 p.m.

Ags eye one of their few winnable games