Two years of heartbreak will stare the Harvard football team in the face when it takes the field tomorrow.

In 1999, Harvard squandered a 13 point 4th-quarter lead in losing to Cornell 24-23. Last year, the Crimson improbably blew a 28-0 halftime advantage to the Big Red, falling 29-28 on a blocked Robbie Wright field goal in the final seconds.

This year, Harvard (3-0, 1-0 Ivy) will look to continue its undefeated season by finally exorcising these demons when it takes on the Big Red (0-3, 0-1) at 1:00 tomorrow in Ithaca, N.Y.

“Our biggest desire is to remain undefeated,” Harvard Coach Tim Murphy said. “But those two losses certainly has had an affect on how the kids feel coming into this game.”

Harvard enters the weekend 3-0 for the first time since the Ivy League championship season of 1987. A victory tomorrow would give the Crimson it’s first 4-0 start since 1980 (the team finished 7-3 that year). Harvard also received 12 votes in this week’s 1-AA national rankings, placing it 34th.

While Harvard has opened the season impressively, Cornell stumbled out of the gate, losing its first three games. The Big Red has been hampered by inconsistent play. After a season-opening 40-13 rout at the hands of Yale, Cornell competed well against two Patriot League powers, Colgate and No. 9 Lehigh, losing two each by three points. In those games, the Big Red alternated between periods of brilliance and mediocrity, scoring or surrendering points in bunches.

Still, last week’s narrow 38-35 defeat to Lehigh indicates that Cornell should be a formidable oppone nt, especially if it puts together a complete game.

“They’re starting to hit their stride offensively,” senior defensive end Marc Laborsky said. “They have a new coaching staff, and it’s just taken them a little bit of time to get used to the new system.”

Driving the Cornell offense is senior quarterback Ricky Rahne. Rahne, who already holds virtually every school passing record, tore up the Crimson in the second half of last year’s debacle, completing 22 of 36 passes for 343 yards and four touchdowns in the second half alone.

“Rahne is a minor legend in terms of leading comebacks late in the game,” Murphy said. “He’s a streaky player who has been more of a slow starter and a fast finisher.”

Rahne has struggled so far this year, however, as he ranks last among Ivy quarterbacks in passing efficiency. The loss of Joe Splendorio to graduation has created a huge void in Cornell’s receiving corps, which has clearly hurt the team’s passing game. This year Rahne has relied on speedy Keith Furgeson and Tim Herman to pick up the slack, with only limited success.

Laborsky said the team will depend on an effective pass rush to limit Rahne’s effectiveness.

“We’ve got to try to put more pressure on him with the defensive line,” Laborsky said. “We’ll also blitz him to keep him on his toes.”

A new coaching staff has attempted to restore some balance to Cornell’s offense, instituting a two-back system in an attempt to rejuvenate the running game. Still, the Big Red lack a star tailback, forcing them to rely on a “running-back-by -committee” approach. Cornell averages less than 100 yards per game on the ground, second worst in the league.

The team’s leading rusher, Evan Simmons, has gained only 124 yards this season, just eight more than Harvard quarterback Neil Rose.