Saturday brought with it a return of television’s greatest child: college football.

The action was riveting, full of the innocence lost in the NFL the day after. But through all the glitz and the on-field glamour, one game stood head and shoulders above the rest. Northwestern, yep, that nerdy little Big 10 outcast from soybean Illinois, thwacked big bad Notre Dame, 17-15.

Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

The Wildcats, distant 28-point underdogs, entered South Bend as perennial losers and left as brilliant executioners in that twisted game of gridiron.

Well, maybe it wasn’t quite that dramatic, but who would have thunk Northwestern General Gary Barnett would bring a squad of no-name talents into the Golden Dome and rub out the luck of the Irish? Knute Rockne, eat your heart out.

Said Barnett after the game: “We visualized this many times.”

Don’t know as if I buy that, though. Could a Northwestern coach really believe his team — a Northwestern team mind you — was going to sting Lou Holtz on his bid for No. 200? Maybe. More likely not.

Nevertheless, it was cool. And nevertheless, it was the Irish, not the soybean farmers, that went home with green tears in their spoiled victory beer.

Rudy must have been on the disabled list.

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While Northwestern was busy dethroning Notre Dame, UCLA did a Rose Bowl dance around the hapless Hurricanes of Miami.

In the wake of misconduct allegations and a new era under first-year Head Coach Butch Davis, 12th ranked Miami lost just the fourth of its last 50 regular-season games, 31-8.

It looks like Miami may be in for its first rebuilding year since the dawn of man, and rightfully so. The bad boy image under former coaches Jimmy Johnson and Dennis Erickson, both now NFL gurus, has been slashed, taking the Hurricanes’ thunder with it.

But it’s hard to feel sorry for a team most noted for its sexual assault charges in between allegations of drug abuse and an undisciplined demeanor on the field. It appears that with the Sundance Kid came justice to Miami.

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For those Wisconsin buffs — chiefly the diehards on the journalism staff — boo hoo. Colorado quarterback Koy Detmer looked more like big brother Ty as the Buffaloes demolished the Badgers in their own den, 43-7.

Colorado looked superb, while Wisconsin looked, well . . . bad. Very bad. I suppose the Badgers could have had a worse season opener, though I’m not sure how.

The victory made rookie coach Rick Neuheisel the first Colorado coach to win his debut since William Saunders in 1932. The game was doubly sweet for Neuheisel, who was born and raised in Madison.

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And just when I didn’t think life could get any better after Saturday’s football marathon, I was proven wrong. While working diligently Sunday on homework, I happened across the exiled Jim Walden — he, too, was on TV.

“The Jim Walden Good Sports Show” made its debut Sunday, complete with ISU highlights, an analysis of college and high school football and a one-on-one interview, conducted by Walden, with none other than Hayden Fry.

The show wasn’t high-tech. It wasn’t chuck full of insightful football tidbits. And it could use a new name. But all in all, it wasn’t bad.

Walden just may have found his niche. It will, however, take a little while to get used to seeing the former Cyclone skipper function as a journalist, though he was never really comfortable on the other side of the fence either.

Oh, incidentally, Hooters is one of the show’s primary sponsors. I guess Walden had the last laugh after all.