CHAMPAIGN – The neighbors don't get together as often as they should. But when they do, it usually means something.

Illinois and Indiana first played football in 1899. So, today they'll be playing their 100th game, right? Not when the Big Ten has a say in the schedule. Unbelievably, the Illini and Hoosiers have played just 55 times in 100 years.

The teams took a four-year break in the early '90s. Michigan and Ohio State, separated by 200 miles, get together every season. Illinois and Indiana, separated by 160 miles, play about once every two years.

In the past two decades, three huge moments for the Illinois football program involved the Hoosiers.

– In 1983, Mike White's team clinched the Big Ten title and a spot in the Rose Bowl with a 49-21 win at home. The goal posts came tumbling down.

– In 1988, John Mackovic's first Illini team needed a win over the Hoosiers to keep their fading bowl hopes alive. With three minutes left, Illinois trailed 20-9 and appeared done. Jeff George's touchdown pass to Shawn Wax pulled the Illini within 20-15, but there was just 2:06 left.

Indiana took over and could have run out the clock. Quarterback Dave Schnell kept the ball and was blasted near the sideline by Illini defensive back Chris Green. Schnell fumbled and Julyon Brown scooped the ball for Illinois. With 26 seconds left, George hit Mike Bellamy for the winning touchdown.

– In 1996, the Illinois-Indiana game marked the beginning of the end for the Lou Tepper era. The Illini pulled out a 46-43 overtime victory, Tepper's last as Illinois coach. Sure, the win was exciting, but the Hoosiers putting up 43 points was a sign of the trouble to follow.

It didn't help Indiana coach Bill Mallory, either. He was out the door at the end of the season.

The '96 Illinois-Indiana game set up today's coaching matchup. When the teams last played in Champaign, Ron Turner and Cam Cameron were NFL assistants.

Turner knows Cameron better than most of the other Big Ten coaches. Besides their NFL link, there is a family tie. Cameron worked for Ron Turner's brother, Norv, with the Washington Redskins.

"I've learned a lot from Ron, and I know he's a good football coach," Cameron said. "They'll be a better team when we play them than they were against Penn State."

Turner hopes so. Ill-timed mistakes kept his Illini from playing the Nittany Lions closer than 27-0.

With two games left, Turner sees a chance to push his program a bit higher. The team already has two more wins than in '97.

"We'd like to win these last two games and finish the season with some confidence," Turner said.

"I think we've made definite progress already. It may not show in the stats. There are a lot of other things besides the football part. We've got a lot of good young players."

Like Turner, Cameron knows his team is better than it was his first year. The Hoosiers went 2-9 in '97 and already have three wins this season.

If they can sweep their final three games against Illinois, Minnesota and Purdue, the Hoosiers earn a bowl bid. Not bad for a school that won seven games the previous three seasons combined.

"We've done some good things at times this year," Cameron said. "We've tried to improve in every phase of what we're doing. I've tried to get away from setting any benchmarks along the way.

"We've got a lot of new faces. We're still in transition. We've got nine new starters on offense and a half a dozen new starters on defense. It's a completely different team. We've just kind of focused on trying to get a little bit better each day."

One of the new faces, quarterback Antwaan Randle El, is getting most of the credit for Indiana's improvement.

The 1996 News-Gazette state Player of the Year runs the option like nobody else in the Big Ten. He is a pain for opposing coaches.

"The guy is unbelievable," Turner said. "We're not going to stop him. We just have to keep him out of the end zone."

Randle El might be Indiana's starting quarterback through the 2001 season. Turner doesn't even know who his starter is for today. Turner spent the week evaluating junior Kirk Johnson and freshman Kurt Kittner. He didn't plan to make a pick until right before the game.

"Last week, we were leaning toward Kirk at this time," Turner said after Thursday's practice. "Right now, I really don't know. They've both had a real good week."

No matter who starts, Turner said, the other quarterback is likely to play. Turner said the runner-up could go in late in the first quarter or early in the second.

"I'm not big on that," Turner said.

At least Turner knows who the quarterbacks will be throwing to. The jumbled mess at receiver worked itself out during the week, with Rob Majoy and Larry Davis winning the starting jobs.