be the boost he needs to upstage Messi after FIFA unexpectedly e

In his third season of Take Two of Louisville, Bobby Petrino has the Cardinals right where he wants them. Almost.The 19th-ranked Cardinals open the season at home Thursday night at Papa Johns Stadium but the road brings bigger tests very soon, namely a Sept. 17 date with No. 4 Florida State and, two weeks later, a close-up with second-ranked Clemson.Now its time to cut it loose, Petrino said Monday. Youre working hard and you get tired of going against the same guy every day in practice. And once in a while we get a little testy about it.The Cardinals turn it loose Thursday (7 p.m. ET) against Charlotte, which went 2-10 last season. The 49ers are a 40-point underdog (39.5 as of Monday afternoon) and growing pains are expected in just the second season for the program at the FBS level. The football program is only five years old.Charlottes offense should be improved with Miami (Fla.) transfer Kevin Olsen at quarterback. Nine offensive starters return, however, offensive line play was a recurring issue in 2015, and Louisville brings relentless edge pressure.While Petrino feels he knows his team far better this season than he did in his first two years since returning to Louisville, not everyone has a firm grip on what the Cardinals will showcase this week. Petrino said he left the depth chart to sports information director Rocco Gasparro and told media not to read much into it.We still practice (Tuesday), Petrino said. Weve got a lot of work to do. Weve got guys that we have to see that theyre full speed ready to go.As expectations go, the headliner is sophomore quarterback Lamar Jackson, who set a Music City Bowl record for total yards -- 227 passing, 226 rushing -- after guiding Louisville to a comeback win over Kentucky in the regular-season finale. Jackson is just one part of a loaded backfield that helped Petrinos offense hum late last season.Petrino was relentless in fall camp and players said his expectations are clear -- its time to measure up to the Seminoles and Tigers, the teams most expect to compete for the Atlantic Coast Conference crown and national title this season.Defense will dictate how soon that tale of the tape equals out for Louisville.Four players on that side of the ball weighed entering the NFL draft. Each returned, led by linebackers Keith Kelsey and Devonte Fields. Louisville did subtract defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins, the powerful and hyperactive interior rusher, but Petrino and defensive coordinator Todd Grantham are high on DeAngelo Brown as a good bet to ease the pain of that loss.A fast start, this week and in September as a whole, might tell the tale of the Louisville season.A year ago we had a tough start to the season, Petrino said. We were playing a bunch of young guys. What they did is they stuck together, they worked hard at practice, they took the losses hard. They found a way to get better and improve as the year went on and win some big games.Chicago Bulls Gear . What general manager Dave Nonis called "short and productive" negotiations ended with Kessel signing a US$64-million, eight-year contract on Tuesday. Wholesale Bulls Jerseys . The (11-11-4) Jets are seventh in the Central Division with 26 points. Fifth place Dallas and sixth-seeded Nashville also have 26 points, but the Stars have three games in hand on Winnipeg while Nashville has two. https://www.cheapbulls.com/ . William Carrier opened the scoring for Cape Breton (6-4-2), but Andrew Ryan tied the game and Brent Andrews put the Mooseheads (8-6-0) in front for good with a short-handed goal at 13:49 of the second period. Cheap Bulls Jerseys .05 million next season unless Graham and the Saints subsequently agree on a long-term deal. The designation was released Monday after the deadline passed for NFL teams to use franchise or transition tags on players becoming free agents. Chicago Bulls Pro Shop . Ronaldo produced a spectacular individual performance on Tuesday, scoring all three goals and guiding Portugal into the next years World Cup in Brazil with a 3-2 victory in Sweden. The Real Madrid forward has scored 66 goals in 2013, but the last three may be the boost he needs to upstage Messi after FIFA unexpectedly extended the voting period for the Ballon dOr to Nov.LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- The Chicago Bears have signed offensive lineman Mike Adams and waived offensive lineman Nick Becton.Adams sat out last season with a back injury after making 20 starts with the Pittsburgh Steelers from 2012-2014. Becton has appeared in six games for the San Diego Chargers (2013), New Orleans Saints (2014) and Chicago Bears (2015).ddddddddddddThe Bears announced the moves Wednesday. Chicago hosts Denver in the preseason opener on Thursday.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '