Knockout. It's a game in which the players try to punch somebody out with enough force to stun, rob and flee. And, according to prosecutors, it's the game that cost MIT student Yngve K. Raustein his life two Fridays ago.

But the students at Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School who are classmates with the three youths allegedly involved in the murder say they don't believe the prosecutor's accounts or the news stories. They--along with school officials and the city's police commissioner--do say knockout is a game, but one that Rindge students aren't playing.

"Everybody's weak here," said Rindge junior Shawn David, who was sitting on the back of a park bench in front of the Cambridge Public Library with four other student. "No one plays it because no one is strong enough. No one has the guts," he said.

David, a self-professed street tough kid, said he has heard of knockout but its popularity is being exaggerated by the media. "I've never heard of kids saying they were going out to play knockout or something. That's justbullshit," he said.

And some Rindge students even say that ShonMcHugh, 15, Joseph D. Donovan, 17, and AlfredoVelez, 18, were not playing knockout the night ofthe Raustein murder. Friends of McHugh, thealleged murderer, say he was notcapable--physically or mentally--of being a playerin the deadly game.

According to police, the three studentsaccosted the Norwegian-born Raustein and fellowMIT students Arne Fredheim in front of the HaydenLibrary on the MIT campus at 9:45 p.m.

After arguing loudly with the victim and hiscompanion, Donovan allegedly punched Raustein inthe face with enough force to knock him to theground. The teenagers then stole $30 from Rausteinand $3 from Fredheim.

If the youths were in fact playing knockout,the game could have stopped there--knockout ruleswould have made the assault a success.

When Raustein started to get up, McHughallegedly stabbed him repeatedly with a six-inchswitchblade before fleeing across the HarvardBridge to Kenmore Square, police reported.

Stained with blood, McHugh and his accompliceswere arrested by police at 10:15 p.m., 10 minutesafter Raustein was pronounced dead atMassachusetts General Hospital. The knife wasfound under a car tire in Kenmore Square andRaustein's wallet was found floating in theCharles River.

When the prosecutors bring the case to court,the story of knockout will likely be a part oftheir case against the three teenagers. Andfriends of Raustein say that according to accountsof the crime, the three allegedly involved in themurder were definitely playing knockout, a gamethat went from an assault and robbery prank, tomurder.

"They were playing knockout," said Naved Khan aMIT student and friend of Raustein. "That's why he[Donovan] hit him so hard...It's just that theydidn't think that Yngve would get up. So theykilled him...It was a crime that went wrong."

But there are doubts throughout the rest ofCambridge that McHugh and his friends were Playingknockout.

"No one knew about such a game," said RindgeVice Principal Dr. William McLaurin. "Onecounselor at [Rindge] knew it existed in NewYork...But there is no evidence of the game inthis high school."

McLaurin, along with several students,expressed outrage at the school's portrayal innewspaper and television accounts. In addition topainting Rindge students as hardened and callous,McLaurin said the media is "enthralled by[knockout]."

"The school is being portrayed as a place kidsgo to learn how to kill people," said Rindgejunior Byron Logan, who marched in a peace rallyto the MIT campus last Thursday. Logan says thathe, along with many other students "want to findout what really went on," expressing doubt thatMcHugh, Donovan or Velez actually played thedeadly game.