The last time Brown beat Harvard in football, you were probably in high school

But you might have been in junior high Where were you in 1979?

The Bruins were in Providence, recording a 23-14 victory over the Crimson And John Rosenberg '67 was in State College, Pa., coaching at Penn State.

Today, Rosenberg returns to Cambridge at the helm of the Brown football team (3-3 overall, 3-1 Ivy), but don't expect the visitors--or their coach--to get a particularly warm reception from the Cantabs (4-2, 4-0 Ivy).

"This game is really, really important," says senior Harvard Captain Steve Abbott in what may just be the understatement of the year.

Rosenberg concurs, playing down his return not just to his alma mater but his home. "I really don't have many strong feelings about the return to Harvard as the place," says the Newton native. "My sense of homecoming is more oriented toward the people than the place.

"We've got a very important football game to play."

You can say that again, Coach. It's a must-win situation for both squads--the Bruins are looking just to stay in the race for the Ivy title, while the Crimson's aiming to hang onto its tie for first place in the league.

"They've been at bit inconsistent," Abbott says of the visitors, "but when they've been good, they've been real good."

But they won't have to be that good for that much longer--Brown's next two opponents are winless Dartmouth and winless Columbia.

So a Bruin win today could be the start of a legitimate run at the 1984 Ancient Eight crown.

Harvard, as a result, isn't even thinking much about next week's showdown against league-leading Penn.

"It's a week at a time," says senior offensive guard Ben Thio.

The Crimson will be looking for its third consecutive victory, and senior running back Mark Vignali for his third straight 170-yd.-plus rushing game.

The Bruin defense has been less than stingy, giving up 38 points last week to Holy Cross, a team the Crimson kept to 24. That bodes well for Vignali and junior fullback Robert Santiago, who leads Harvard in rushing with 633 yards on 102 carries.