Coral Gables, Fla. ? It’s a non-league game in September, with no bearing on the Atlantic Coast Conference standings.

Yet for the Miami Hurricanes, Saturday’s matchup at No. 12 Louisville might define the season.

“If we don’t win this ballgame, our chances of completing our goal, which is to win the national championship, are basically over,” Miami defensive back Glenn Sharpe said Tuesday. “So this game is really big for us. … There’s a lot riding on this game.”

A loss would drop the Hurricanes to 1-2 and possibly out of the AP Top 25 poll – they’re 17th this week – for the first time since November 1999, plus end whatever hope Miami really has of winning the national title.

No two-loss team ever has won that crown.

But a victory over the high-powered Cardinals, who come in averaging 60.5 points and 651 yards after two blowout games to open the year, could allow the Hurricanes to restore some lost national stature, quiet any doubters and provide a serious boost heading into a stretch of home games against Houston, North Carolina and Florida International.

“Basically,” linebacker Tavares Gooden said, “this is for our season.”

Miami defensive back Glenn Sharpe (4) and punter Jon Peattie run out on the field during introductions prior to Saturday's game against Florida A&M in Miami. The Hurricanes will face No. 12 Louisville Saturday, and a loss likely would drop Miami out of the AP Top 25 poll for the first time since November, 1999.

Miami is a 5-point underdog, marking only the sixth time it hasn’t been favored since the 2000 season. The Hurricanes have never lost as an underdog in coach Larry Coker’s tenure, most recently recording a 27-7 victory at Virginia Tech last season – a game where the Hokies were favored by 61â2 points.

“That always excites us. … I think it’s a motivator,” Coker said. “Normally, when we’ve been underdogs, we’ve played pretty well.”

And if that wasn’t enough motivation, Louisville linebacker Nate Harris may have added more fuel.

Harris was a Miami recruit until he was involved as a lookout man in an armed robbery, just days before he graduated from Miami Edison High. That mistake – a huge one, Harris acknowledges – cost him a chance to play for the Hurricanes, sent him to a prison boot camp and ultimately forced him to turn his life around.

So Harris eventually wound up with the Cardinals, and says he’s looking forward to Saturday’s game perhaps more than any other.

“Everybody knows they’re not the same Miami team as they used to be,” Harris said Monday. “But they still have their swagger. I know they still have the ex-players come down there and talk to them and everything, but it’s not the same Miami team. They’re just not.”

Naturally, Harris’ sentiments quickly became big news to the Hurricanes.

Wide receiver Darnell Jenkins, who remains close with Harris, remembers facing him in high school in a game where Harris talked trash during the pregame coin flip.

“He told me that this was about to be a personal whipping he was going to give us all,” said Jenkins, who played for Miami Central. “We beat them 33-6. So he knows what happened.”

The Hurricanes struggled offensively in Week 1 against Florida State, losing 13-10, but looked sharper last Saturday in a 51-10 romp over Florida A&M.

Miami is 9-0-1 all-time against Louisville.