First things first. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! It is the greatest day of the year.

There is one small piece of advice to impart on fantasy players before the start or sit takes center stage. This is the heart of rivalry season. Games mean more than just wins and losses. Most players will never play for a National Championship or a Rose Bowl or even a conference title. What they will remember for the rest of their days, however, will be how they performed against their hated rival.

Keep this in mind when setting the lineup this weekend. Take the Nebraska defense for example — they travel to Boulder this weekend to take on Colorado. Those Buffalo players will never remember how they fared against Toledo in September but will never forget how they played against the Big 12 North Champion — and bitterly despised — Cornhuskers. There is a different energy level and a different attitude surrounding some of these games. Strange things happen in rivalry contests and it can lead to very unexpected fantasy results. Motivation and intensity cannot be overlooked when talking about games like The Iron Bowl, The Holy War, The Apple Cup, The Bedlam Series, The Egg Bowl, The Backyard Brawl, The Border War, The Lone Star Showdown, The Dual in the Desert, The Battle for the Victory Bell or, my favoritely titled, Clean, Old-fashioned Hate (If that last one does not get you fired up, then you don't deserve to watch college football).

In lieu of the gracious attitude that will sweep the nation tomorrow, fantasy owners cannot forget just how much some of these teams dislike each other. It can certainly manifest itself into solid (or terrible) fantasy numbers when not expected. Also do not forget the teams that are fighting for bowl births either. Football is a game of energy, intensity and motivation. Do not forget this when setting the line-up this week.

On to the weekly recommendations.

Quarterbacks — Better Think Twice

Russell Wilson, NC State (North Carolina)
Three weeks in row Wilson has appeared in this section of Think Twice. The once very hot quarterback has cooled a bit against tougher competition. He has thrown five interceptions in his last three games and over his last two has only 417 yards passing, three touchdowns and (-18) yards rushing. The UNC defense has been outstanding of late. They feature the country's 11th best pass defense (167 ypg) and pass efficiency defense (96.02).

Jerrod Johnson, Texas A&M (Texas)
The Aggie signal caller has thrown only four touchdown passes and is averaging only 170 passing yards a game over his last three contests. Against the Horns last season, Johnson completed only four of 11 passes for 62 yards and one score. The Burnt Orange won't allow him much more than that this season either. Texas ranks first nationally in rush defense (50 ypg), 9th in pass efficiency D (97.25), seventh in scoring defense (13 ppg) and third in total defense (238 ypg). Slim fantasy pickings.

Zac Robinson, Oklahoma State (@ Oklahoma)
The Pokes quarterback missed the Colorado game but is not likely to miss his last shot at the Sooners in the Bedlam series. With the uncertainty surrounding his injury and a match-up against a defense that is very salty (at least, normally), the upside for Robinson is low. The Sooners are 11th in the nation in total defense (288 ypg) and 8th in scoring defense (14 ppg). After a 102 combined points in last season's game, owners can expect a much lower scoring affair in 2009.

Tough all-around games to stay away from:

Kevin Prince vs. Matt Barkley (UCLA @ USC)
Bill Stull vs. Jarrett Brown (Pitt @ West Virginia)
Kyle Parker vs. Stephen Garcia (Clemson @ South Carolina)
Greg McElroy vs. Chris Todd (Alabama @ Auburn)
Zac Lee vs. Tyler Hansen (Nebraska @ Colorado)

Quarterbacks — Deserves a Second Look

Riley Skinner vs. Thaddeus Lewis  (Wake Forest @ Duke)
Lewis and Skinner rank No. 2 and No. 3 respectively in passing (ypg) this season in the ACC. They are both the all-time leading passer in their school's history. No two quarterbacks have attempted more passes in the ACC this season than Lewis (401) and Skinner (362). With each playing their final collegiate game, the fireworks should be on full display in Durham. Both defenses rank near the bottom of the ACC in passes intercepted, scoring defense, total defense and are both in the bottom half of the league in pass efficiency defense.

Andy Dalton, TCU (New Mexico)
The Horned Frog quarterback has been on a tear lately. Over his last six games, Dalton has thrown for 12 touchdowns and only two interceptions. He has also averaged nearly 50 yards rushing per game (47.9) over that span. In the first game of the season last year, Dalton scored two rushing touchdowns, gained 56 yards on the ground and threw for another 120 yards. The Lobos, despite winning their first game of the year last week, will be no match for the mighty Toads. New Mexico ranks 110th in pass efficiency defense, 104th in pass defense, 101st in total defense and 108th in scoring defense.

B.J. Daniels, South Florida (Miami, Fla.)
Its been feast or famine with Daniels this season but his ability to improvise and make plays with his legs always makes him an intriguing option. Last week, Thaddeus Lewis posted 303 yards passing against the Canes defense and a lowly North Carolina offense was efficient with 33 points scored and 213 passing yards (no interceptions). Daniels was huge last week with 304 yards passing, 141 yards rushing and three total scores.

Other solid plays:

Tyrod Taylor, Virginia Tech (@ Virginia)
Jeff Van Camp, FAU (Western Kentucky)
Jonathan Crompton, Tennessee (@ Kentucky)
Andrew Luck, Stanford (Notre Dame)

Running Backs — Better Think Twice

Keith Toston/Kendall Hunter, Oklahoma State (@ Oklahoma)
It should be nearly impossible for this Sooner defense to allow two consecutive solid rushing performances in a row. They rank 8th nationally in rush defense (91 ypg) and are allowing only 14 points per game — also good for 8th nationally. The success of Baron Batch will not go overlooked by Bob Stoops, so expect a much stronger performance this weekend. Benching Toston is a tough call but OU has been stout all season. Last week seems to the exception, not the rule.

Damion Fletcher/Tory Harrison, Southern Miss (@ East Carolina)
This has turned into an interesting time split anyway. Fletcher is still getting the carries (22 last week) but Harrison is one scoring the touchdowns (at least one in six straight games). ECU is one of, if not the, best defense in the C-USA. They held UAB tailbacks to 111 yards rushing, they stymied Tulsa to the tune of 30 yards on 31 carries and held Memphis to 84 yards on 25 carries. Those are the Pirates last three conference opponents' rushing totals and ECU won all three games.

Ben Tate, Auburn (Alabama)
The Tide lead the SEC in rushing defense (70 ypg), total defense (225 ypg) and pass efficiency defense (82.52). They are second in scoring defense (9.9 ppg) to Florida, who leads the nation in scoring defense (9.8 ppg). Bama controlled the clock in their 36-0 beat down of the Tigers last season holding Tate to 12 yards on four carries. Mount Cody and the Bama front seven will be ready for the much improved Tiger rushing attack.

Other tough match-ups:

Toney Baker, NC State (North Carolina)
Cyrus Gray/Christine Michael, Texas A&M (Texas)
Jermaine Thomas, Florida State (@ Florida)
Nick Booth/Greg Nwoko, Arizona (@ Arizona State)

Running Backs — Deserves a Second Look

Chris Polk, Washington (@ Washington State)
The redshirt freshman is only a few touchdowns away from posting a very respectable first fantasy season. He is given the ball plenty — nearly 18 carries a game — and is used plenty in the passing game (21 receptions). He is starting to hit his stride as well as his three straight 100-yard games will attest. Nothing really needs to be said about Washington State, at this point its just mean to rattle off the defensive rankings of the Cougars.

Matthew Tucker, TCU (New Mexico)
This is a Steven Lassan special. Joe Turner is a good play this week but Tucker has been just as productive in games that have been getting out of hand very quickly. It should be more of the same against new Mexico this weekend. The TCU back-up has scored five times in his last three games and has 281 yards over that span. Pretty solid for a back-up. In fact, the big play Ed Wesley might even deserve a look as well.

Joe Mosure, Colorado State (Wyoming)
The Rams tailback has really started to come on strong. He has scored two touchdowns in each of his last two games and last week rumbled for 177 yards on 27 carries. Wyoming is allowing 170 yards rushing per game in 2009 (89th nationally). Colorado State ran the ball 43 times against the Cowboys in last year's road win so more of the same should be expected in Fort Collins this weekend.

Other potential sleepers this week:

Tre' Newton/Cody Johnson, Texas (@ Texas AM)
Seth Smith, New Mexico State (@ San Jose State)
Jeff Demps/Chris Rainey, Florida (Florida State)

Wide Receivers — Better Think Twice

David Reed, Utah (@ BYU)
Underrated rivalry will bring out the best in Cougar defense.

Randall Cobb, Kentucky (Tennessee)
A little banged up and Vols secondary is nasty good.

Jeff Fuller, Texas A&M (Texas)
Brutal match-up should stymie most of the Aggie attack.

DeAndre Brown, Southern Miss (@ East Carolina)
On a roll but faces a tough Pirate defense.

Jock Sanders, West Virginia (Pitt)
Panther defense should be able to handle Brown and the passing game.

Wide Receivers — Deserves a Second Look

Marshall Williams vs. Donovan Varner (Wake Forest @ Duke)
Should be a high-scoring quarterback shootout in Durham.

Andre Jones, Akron (Eastern Michigan)
Circuitous route to fantasy starting line-up should pay off against EMU.

Mohamed Sanu, Rutgers (@ Louisville)
Tim Brown is hurt and the Knights will be angry after loss to Cuse.

Devin Aguilar/Jermaine Kearse/James Johnson, Washington (@ Wazzu)
Have we picked up on the developing theme surrounding the Apple Cup yet?

Chris Owusu/Ryan Whalen, Stanford (Notre Dame)
Irish struggling to stop much of anything and Luck should be productive.

Phillip Payne, UNLV (San Diego State)
No Ryan Wolfe will mean more targets for Payne.

Top-10 Defensive Spot Starts

1. Washington (@ Wazzu)
2. Cincinnati (Illinois)
3. Texas Tech (@ Baylor)
4. Georgia Tech (Georgia)
5. Ohio (Temple)
6. Boston College (@ Maryland)
7. Arizona (@ Arizona State)
8. Mississippi State (Ole Miss)
9. Buffalo (@ Kent State)
10. Temple (@ Ohio)