Spurrier lives for openers like this

At the risk of putting way too much stock in a season-opening game, South Carolina has a lot at stake tonight.

Prime time on opening night against a regional foe from a rival conference is putting yourself out there. It won't necessarily break you, but it can certainly help to make your road to a bowl more attainable.

This is the kind of spotlight a national media darling like Steve Spurrier savors, and his presence has put the Gamecocks in this coveted kickoff position four of the five years the ol' ball coach has been in Columbia.

"We try to use it in recruiting," Spurrier said of the opening-night exposure. "We tell the guys you can have the first game on national television of college football. I heard people around the country say (they're) excited to see South Carolina play that first game and see what we look like."

What the Gamecocks may look a lot like is the team across the line of scrimmage from them tonight in Carter-Finley Stadium.

South Carolina and N.C. State are practically mirror images of each other. Or should I say "mire" images since each football program has been stuck in an almost perpetual state of mediocrity.

The Gamecocks' plight is familiar to us all. It is not easy toiling in what is arguably the toughest collegiate division in the country. Gaining traction in the Southeastern Conference East with the likes of Florida, Georgia and Tennessee on the annual docket is no picnic. That South Carolina has never won its division, much less an SEC title, is no real surprise.

N.C. State has no such excuse. It holds the distinction of carrying the longest active title lapse in the Atlantic Coast Conference, last raising a banner in 1979. Even Duke (under the direction of Spurrier, of course) doesn't have to troll back that far to mine success. You like to believe that had the Gamecocks stuck around beyond their lone ACC championship in 1969, they might have another banner or two fixed to the facade of Williams-Brice Stadium.

The Wolfpack, despite all sorts of talented players through the years, has remained bogged down. Last year was the first time since 1994 that N.C. State ever finished higher than tied for fourth in either its conference or division -- and that was a four-way tie for third (and last) in the Atlantic Division.

The Wolfpack is astonishingly average and habitually underachieving. Often blessed through the years with talented quarterbacks the likes of Roman Gabriel, Erik Kramer, Shane Montgomery, Terry Jordan, Terry Harvey, Jamie Barnette and Philip Rivers, only once has the team ever posted a double-digit win total. And even the Rivers-led team that went 11-3 in 2002 finished fourth in the ACC.

Now N.C. State has a new star quarterback that has raised title hopes in Raleigh.

Sophomore Russell Wilson was the key factor in last year's mid-season turnaround. The Gamecocks knocked Wilson out before halftime in a closer-than-the-score indicates 34-0 win on opening night.

Based on Wilson's emergence, oddsmakers have made the Wolfpack a four-point favorite at home. This despite going up against a coach that has all but owned Tobacco Road through the years.

Spurrier is 7-1-1 as a head coach against N.C. State and North Carolina, his lone loss a 47-45 shootout to the Wolfpack in his first season at the Duke helm.

Spurrier was even 2-0 against N.C. State as a player at Florida, rallying the Gators to a road victory in 1966 just a week after South Carolina christened the brand new Carter Stadium by handing the Wolfpack a defeat.

Spurrier isn't surprised that the Gamecocks aren't favored.

"I've been the underdog many times," he said. "I want our players to know this is a very good team we're playing. People go by the score of last year's game, but really you can't. N.C. State became a much better team as the season progressed. Hopefully that's what we'll do is become a stronger team as the season progresses."

For that to happen, and for the Gamecocks to secure a bowl bid, games like this are critical. A season's success is defined by how you handle the close matchups, the toss-up games that might go either way.

Few expect the Gamecocks to sweep through Georgia, Alabama, Florida and Clemson. Steal one or two of those and you're doing well. It's the matchups against N.C. State, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Arkansas that will determine what kind of team this is and whether the program turns a corner.

It starts tonight against its ACC doppelganger.

"We're trying to (establish) a new era around here, a new way to play Gamecock football," receiver Moe Brown said. "The first game is going to be the statement of how we want to do that."

This is why Spurrier has agreed to let ESPN make his team something of an opening-night fixture.

This is a chance to show the nation which direction his program is going to and to separate it from the N.C. States in college football's middle ground.

"We're not talking big," Spurrier said.

"We need to earn our way as we go. We think we're headed in the right direction, but we'll find out when we kick it off Thursday night."

Reach Scott Michaux at (706) 823-3219 or scott.michaux@augustachronicle.com.