But when forced to recall his memories come of 1998, his smile drops. What happened? How can a team go from a league champion one year to a league doormat the next?

"Everyone that knows anything about football knows there's a million things that can affect it," says Linden. "I myself did not have as good a season my junior year as I did my sophomore year. I don't know if [senior tailback] Chris Menick had quite the season [in 1998] that he did [in 1997]."

With all the struggles, the heartaches, the demotion and the frustration--if he could do it all over again, would Rich Linden do anything differently?

"I don't know if I can really answer that," he says hesitantly. Besides a couple of throws here and there, Linden says he has no regrets about his Harvard football career. Even the fumble against Yale? He smiles.

"I take a lot of heat from the press and alums and stuff that I shouldn't have tried to make that play. But if I had to do it over again, I would still try to pick up that first down and still try to run that kid over. When you play quarterback you don't know how quickly you can go from being the hero to the goat. You just can't second guess yourself like that."

He admits that he has a little extra desire to take down the Elis and "get a little bit of revenge" for last year's disappointment, which he called the most frustrating loss of his career.

But whether or not Harvard pulls out the victory, and whether or not

Linden sees any playing time in New Haven, he deserves to be remembered as one of the most important contributors to this senior class. And despite his struggles and setbacks on the field, he still feels proudest when referring to himself as a "true student-athlete."

"Sometimes you just kind of pinch yourself when you walk around here," he says. "It's like living a dream, that we get a chance to go to Harvard. I would not trade my experiences at Harvard for anything."