Clemson driving toward title game

RALEIGH, N.C. --- Michael Palmer won't deny it. The Clemson tight end can't help but consider a division crown and a spot in the Atlantic Coast Conference title game.

Just not too much.

And definitely not with one of the league's strongest finishers up next.

"I'm not going to sit here and tell you that it's not in our mind," he said. "The ACC championship is just around the corner. Anybody that's around here understands that. ... There's no point in looking to next week -- if we don't win this week, it puts us in a real bad spot. We do understand what's at stake right now. We understand what's around the corner. But at the same time, we've just got to worry about this week."

The ACC's title-game matchup could inch closer to being set with a pair of contests being played simultaneously today some 25 miles apart in the Triangle region of central North Carolina.

While Georgia Tech can wrap up the Coastal Division by beating Duke up the road in Durham, Palmer and the 24th-ranked Tigers are more concerned with taking another step toward clinching the Atlantic against North Carolina State. Clemson (6-3, 4-2) will sew up the division with a win against the Wolfpack and a Boston College loss to Virginia.

"You're going to think about it -- that's regardless of whether the coach tells you or not," defensive back Rashard Hall said. "You're going to think about it. But if you're smart enough to know how to get there, you're going to focus on the next game, the next play."

That might be more challenging than it perhaps appeared a few weeks ago. N.C. State, the last ACC team to win a league game, is coming off a 38-31 victory against Maryland and is 7-2 in November under coach Tom O'Brien.

Clemson's defense will try to slow an N.C. State offense that under quarterback Russell Wilson might be finding its rhythm, generating at least five touchdowns in two consecutive games.

"I think everybody's just believing in one another," offensive lineman Jeraill McCuller said. "Guys are still in it, like we're undefeated. That's positive in itself, and it shows on (recent) Saturdays."