Eugene Demchenko, a graduate student and Russian refugee, will lead Harvard's venomous defensive line. "Running into him is like running into a fire plug," said Wilson proudly before practice.

During their scrimmage yesterday, Demchenko innocently batted one teammate ten feet off the field. Wilson jogged happily onto the sideline. "You see what I mean," he said, his eyes alight, "When the Russian touches you, you're touched!"

Last year, both the Harvard and Yale government departments agreed there would be no need for referees. After there was a dispute over the first play of the game, an innocent and incompetent sideliner was immediately recruited to officiate.

"This year," Wilson said Wednesday, "There's no nonsense about us being gentlemen." A formal list of rules was developed through a series of negotiations and three referees have been hired for the game.

After practice yesterday, the Crimson was confident that they had not peaked too soon. "We're ready and excited," said Lange. "We're not thinking about the Superbowl. The great thing about having Jim for a coach is that he always keeps us thinking about the next game."

The Next Game is tomorrow at 10 a.m. And around Littauer, anyway, The Game is now known as "The Anti-climax."