Timing everything for Irish

It turns out Notre Dame needed a little luck of the Longhorns to lure former Cincinnati football coach Brian Kelly to the school.

Had Nebraska upset Texas in the Big 12 title game -- which came down to a video review, which put one second back on the clock and let the Longhorns kick the winning field goal in a 13-12 win -- Kelly said he might not have accepted the job with the Fighting Irish.

The win put Texas (13-0) in the Bowl Championship Series title game, but a Nebraska win might have put Kelly's Bearcats (12-0) in the game instead.

"Who knows what would have happened if Nebraska wins that game?" Kelly said on ESPN Radio. "I might not be here at Notre Dame because we don't know if they would have waited for me, because I was going to play in the national championship game.

"The reality is the timing was lousy. I was not looking for a job. ... But the timing of this is one you can't help."

As a parting gift from Cincinnati, Kelly's house was egged this week. He joked it was probably done by "a couple of kids who didn't like the color of our house."

• GRIESE TO SAINTS: LOSE -- Former Miami Dolphins quarterback Bob Griese has some advice for the New Orleans Saints (13-0) as they pursue perfection.

"Lose a game before the end of the season," he said. "Your team will go into the playoffs and have the best chance of winning because that monkey won't be on their back."

And, if the Saints and Indianapolis Colts (13-0) do each lose a game, Griese and his former teammates on the 1972 Dolphins probably will break open a bottle of bubbly and continue to celebrate the fact they're the only unbeaten team in NFL history.

• TIGER TALK -- In the wake of the Tiger Woods scandal, several professional athletes have expressed support for the world's best golfer. Washington Redskins running back Clinton Portis said Woods is "being treated unfair" and joked he "needed to be congratulated" for his ability to keep so many affairs hidden.

"If he could keep that a secret and ain't nobody came out and told (on him), hey, congratulate him," he said. "You know, most of the time there's one or two, and you can't keep that a secret. So if he can balance 14 and keep it a secret, congrats.

"You know, at least he knows what he wants. He don't discriminate, he's not against people, he don't care what your job, what your background is. ... He knew what he was after."

Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas said people shouldn't be so surprised about Woods' behavior.

"Man, I don't know why everybody's sitting around here like it's something new," he said. "Tiger Woods is Tiger Woods! It's not like he looks like Seal. It's not like he's not going to have a whole bunch of women. He's Tiger Woods! I'm surprised 400 girls didn't come out. ... Did you think no women were going to come out? I was expecting at least 25 by the end of this week."

Besides saying "Tiger Woods" about as many times as NBA star Allen Iverson said "practice" in his famous rant, Arenas went out of line when he ripped Seal, who, regardless of his looks, is married to supermodel Heidi Klum.

COMPILED BY TODD DEWEY LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL