I can imagine David Bennett’s reaction when he opens the newspaper today and spots that logo, situated just to the right.

Ahhhhhhhhhhh! Say it ain’t so, sports editor! Not that ‘Countdown to the Showdown’ stuff again!”

Bennett has seen that logo before. When he opened the season with crosstown neighbor Livingstone it was used during the week preceeding the game. And the Catawba College football coach wasn’t a big fan of it. Most coaches aren’t when their game is being hyped as much as a Tyson-Holyfield fight.

Bennett didn’t bite my ear off but he playfully chewed on it. Especially when I hinted around that the logo was coming out of hibernation for this Saturday’s game at Shuford Stadium.

Carson-Newman at Catawba.

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One fan approached me earlier this week and asked if I was bringing back the “Countdown to the Showdown” logo?

“This is the week you need to use it,” he told me. This is a real showdown. The Livingstone game certainly wasn’t.”

No, it wasn’t as Catawba won 49-0. For the Indians it was a knockdown. For Livingstone, it was a breakdown.

But this Saturday is something very special. This isn’t just a game for Salisbury or for the South Atlantic Conference. This is a game for the entire country.

In the words of Barney Fife when the gold shipment was coming through Mayberry, “This is big. Real big. Oh, it’s big.”

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In Division IIfootball, it doesn’t get any bigger. Catawba (7-0) is currently the third-ranked team in the country. Carson-Newman, at 6-1, is the fifth-ranked team in the country.

If this were Division I, the No. 3 and No. 5 teams in the Bowl championship Series points standings, Virginia Tech and Florida State, would be squaring off.

Think the national media would be hyping that battle?

For Catawba, the hype is different. Suddenly, people are calling the school that never called before for stories. People want to know who Catawba is, what Catawba is about and how Catawba has reached a level where it is mentioned in the same breath with Carson-Newman.

For Carson-Newman coach Ken Sparks, hype is nothing new. He has led the Eagles to the national playoffs in NAIAand Division IIfor 17 of the last 18 years.

“That’s amazing,” Bennett says.

Want amazing? How about what Bennett has done?

The Cheraw, S.C. native was an assistant on a team that at times, was dreadful in the early 1990s. Undaunted, he still applied for the head coaching vacancy after the 1994 season.

Bennett always mentions the old saying, “When you’re winning, hire from within. If you’re losing, hire from the outside.

“Thank goodness Fred Corriher didn’t go by that,” he smiled Tuesday afternoon.

Corriher, the school’s president, saw something in the down-home, country flavor of a man who just had a way with kids and with people. He gave Bennett his first head coaching assignment.

And that’s why Corriher can be seen each Saturday afternoon shaking hands with the fans and smiling. In fact, Corriher smiles a lot these days. His football team has revved up the student body and an area with entertaining play and a host of different personalities. Currently, Catawba is recognized nationally because of this sport.

Corriher looks like a genius. His hire in 1995 of a man who is known for his “dadgums” and “dadblames” as much as his game plans, has won 48 of 62 games he has coached.

And as kooky as it might have seemed back in 1995, Bennett has Catawba College eyeing a national championship.

We’re very proud to get recognition for such a great school that deserves the recognition,” Bennett said.

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Of course, Bennett downplays his role in the whole thing.

“It’s not just one person,” he says of the turnaround. “It’s a blend of a coaching staff of great men, great players who were recruited and jelled together, great trainers, great managers ...”

Bennett grinned and spoke for his wife Melanie, daughter Hayes and son Jeb.

“Catawba feels like our school. It’s home.”

And home is where he’ll greet Carson-Newman, a program that he is striving to be like. And he wouldn’t mind comparing himself and Sparks.

“Ken’s a good man who stands for the right things,” Bennett said of his counterpart. “He knows there’s a lot more important things than football — like watching these young men grow.”

Are there similarities?

“He’s a lot older than I am,” laughed Bennett. “I’m 38 and he’s around 58. But the bad thing is, we look the same age. He looks good. He must be drinking that Mossy Creek water. It’s keeping him young.”

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One of the main questions for Catawba this week? Can the Indians handle the hype and the pressure as well as the Eagles?

Will the Indians come out too pumped up? Will they psyche themselves out?

With all of his seniors, Bennett thinks not.

“Everybody is still telling us we’re the underdogs,” Bennett maintains. “Our guys should not be nervous at all. We don’t have a loss. So it’s our turn to say, ‘Let’s have fun and go play the game.’ We’d have nothing to lose in this ballgame.”

Catawba players felt they could’ve won both games against Carson-Newman last year but the fact remains, they didn’t. And when the 11-2 season was complete, both losses were to Sparks and the Eagles.

“We might have had some guys who thought we could play with Carson-Newman but weren’t sure we were going to win,” said senior offensive tackle Ben Hepler. “We led 17-0 in the first game and lost (28-17). We made a big comeback and lost in the playoff game (28-25). I hope between those two experiences, the guys know they’re a team, just like us. If we do what we’re supposed to do, we’ll have a good chance to win.”

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Hepler said that even the younger kids on the team have been socking each other in the mouth preparing for this game. It brought back memories of when he was a redshirt freshman in 1996, the last time Catawba beat Carson-Newman.

“Iremember the great senior leadership,” Hepler said. “That practice week was one of the hardest I can remember. I was on the scout team but everybody was getting after it.”

The same atmosphere exists right now — only on a much larger, more spectacular stage.

Bennett has to deal with much more than just getting his team ready for a football game. Now, everything has to be right for this national showdown.

He must deal with the mindset of his players. He must deal with giddy fans. He must deal with other reporters beside me bugging the heck out of him.

And, oh yeah, there’s one more thing David Bennett must deal with leading up to Saturday’s showdown: that dadgum logo he loves so much.

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Ronnie Gallagher is the sports editor of the Post.