They''re losing as often as the Chicago Bears.

   Fans are grumbling. Players are frustrated. Coaches are in denial.

   Wait a minute. Didn''t Illinois end its losing streak Saturday?

   Sure, but Louisville didn''t.

   When the Cardinals hit the field at Memorial Stadium on Saturday, they''ll be trying to end a 10-game losing streak. The last win, and the only one of 1997, came against Illinois.

   Louisville opened the season with a new coach (John L. Smith) and a new attitude. The results have been the same. Kentucky and Heisman Trophy candidate Tim Couch pounded the Cardinals 68-34. They lost 45-22 at Utah.

   As far as the Cardinals are concerned, the streak is two games. The last eight games of ''97 belong to former coach Ron Cooper.

   "We''re trying not to think about it," quarterback Chris Redman said. "Last year was a totally different year than this year. We''ve just had some bad breaks this year."

   Smith had nothing to do with last season. He was busy leading Utah State to the Big West title and a bowl bid.

   "I don''t talk much about what they did last year," Smith said. "We''re just trying to get better from here on out."

   Smith built a power at I-AA Idaho in the early 1990s, winning at least nine games five times. That led him to Utah State, where he went 16-18 in three years.

   Selling Smith on Louisville wasn''t tricky. The school had a new stadium, a new weight room, new offices: everything a coach could want.

   "The facilities are second to none," Smith said. "They''re going to give us the opportunity to go get some kids and turn this thing around."

   And he has Redman, a junior quarterback with pro potential. In Redman''s first two years, he threw for 4,852 yards and 26 touchdowns. Louisville won six games.

   "I felt like that was our basic building block," Smith said. "Any time you''re looking at taking over a program, you want to say, ''Yeah, we know we''ve got a long road to hoe here. With this kid, we''ve still got a chance to win some games along the way.'' "

   Illinois coach Ron Turner knows exactly what Smith is going through. In his first year at Illinois, Turner didn''t win a game.

Not so bad

   If Louisville''s Smith wants some more sympathy, he can call Northern Illinois'' Joe Novak.

   Novak''s Huskies have the nation''s longest I-A losing streak, 20 games. During the stretch, Northern Illinois has lost close games (24-21, 21-14, 35-30) and not-so-close games (42-0, 47-7, 67-28).

   The Huskies suffered their worst loss of Novak''s career Saturday against Kansas State. The fifth-ranked Wildcats drilled Northern Illinois 73-7.

   "We went out there and created our own situation with a bunch of mistakes," Novak said. "The thing really steamrolled. It''s hard to come back from that."

   The Huskies will try to end the skid Saturday against I-AA Eastern Illinois. Just like Illinois in its game against Middle Tennessee State, Northern should be considered the favorite. It''s a question of depth. I-A schools get 85 scholarship players. I-AA schools get 63.

   "In a typical year, with more grant-in-aids, we should be favored," Novak said. "We''re I-A, they''re not. In a typical situation, a I-A program should beat a I-AA program."

   This is not a typical situation for Northern Illinois.

   "We''re not going to count grant-in-aids when we get out there for the coin toss," Novak said. "I don''t think they''re going to be scared off because we''ve got 10 or 12 more grants than they do to give out. They''re even more fired up because maybe a school like ours didn''t recruit them."

The bright side

   Novak starts a bunch of freshmen and sophomores. Two years from now, he thinks the early experience will pay off.

   The ''98 Huskies already are better than the ''97 team, Novak said.

   "What''s been positive about this whole thing is that everyone knows where this program was," Novak said. "We have gutted it. We''ve started over. We have really worked hard in establishing relationships with the coaches in this area. We''ve had two real good recruiting years.

   "We just needs to get these kids older."

   Like Smith and Turner, Novak refuses to dwell on the past. But when a reporter calls, he knows the streak is coming up.

   "If we had won 18 in a row, we wouldn''t be talking about our winning streak," Novak said. "All you focus on is the next game. That''s all we''re worried about.

   "In athletics, last week doesn''t matter. Whether it was great or bad."

Cardinals chatter

   Everybody knows Louisville is the birthplace of boxing great Muhammad Ali. Did you know the city also produced actress Sean Young, co-star of our favorite movie "Stripes"? More fun facts about the home of the Cardinals:

   Talk, talk: When she''s not bothering Sam Donaldson on ABC''s "Prime Time Live," Diane Sawyer is probably bragging about her days at Louisville''s law school. The Kentucky native attended the school before a distinguished broadcasting career. She''s married to director Mike Nichols, who we assume is not from Louisville. Louisville is also the home of Ned Beatty, who you might remember from "Deliverance." His more important work was as Dean Martin in "Back to School."

   Stroke, stroke: Big rowing fans know the name Victoria Murden. The Louisville alum just tried to row across the Atlantic Ocean, by herself. Was the rowing machine broken at the fitness center? Murden didn''t quite make it. A little hurricane slowed her trip. But she vowed she''ll try again. If she wants to practice, she can always go home and make the quick dash across the Ohio River.

   Pizza, pizza: Sorry, wrong slogan. But pizza is a big deal to the folks at Louisville. It''s important because the Cardinals play in Papa John''s Cardinal Stadium. College football''s newest facility opened Sept. 5 when the Cardinals hosted Kentucky. It has 42,000 chairback seats, the only school-operated stadium able to make that claim. Another corporate sponsor, BellSouth, pitched in with the Johnny Unitas Football Museum. The stadium also has a 9,100-square foot strength and conditioning room, 4,100-square foot training room and office space for team meetings and academic services. We assume there''s a separate room for the breadsticks.

   We deliver, we deliver: Want to get something in a hurry. The people of Louisville might play a part. Louisville is the proud home of United Parcel Service. You know, the people in the brown trucks who always double park.