Clemson 40, Florida State 24. We've had a long time to watch C.J. Spiller now, and the book on his career to date is more or less identical to the book on his team: Enormously talented, hyped, capable of isolated dominance but also prone to inconsistency and disappearing over surprisingly long stretches of time. Spiller's rushing totals dropped with each successive season over his first three years, and fairly or not, he's been largely viewed as emblematic of a team known for blowing opportunity and potential.

There's still plenty of time for that narrative to reemerge over the next month, but tonight any hint of disappointment or untapped potential is a whisper beneath the blaring siren of one of the great efforts of the season -- emphasis on effort: Still clearly ailing from the assortment of nicks that essentially sidelined him last week against Charleston Southern, Spiller gashed Florida State for 312 total yards (165 rushing, 67 receiving, 80 in the return game), just abovdthe school record he set two weeks ago in the Tigers' overtime win at Miami. That included runs of 45, 36 and 21 yards and a touchdown reception from 58 yards out, a couple of which he couldn't quite finish because his legs visibly stopped working at the end; on the sideline, Spiller appeared to be on the verge of hocking an organ onto the field.

He still commanded the ball, 29 times altogether, and Florida State was helpless to stop him in the second half. When his injuries and exhaustion did what FSU could not, he was the first player off the bench to celebrate when his teammates punched in a late touchdown, and his first move after the game was to seek out Bobby Bowden among the throng on the field for a handshake.

Coming into the day, only three other players nationally had put together a 300-yard all-purpose game this year; excluding last week's functional bye, Spiller's turned the trick two games in a row, against arguably the two most talented teams in the ACC, and has the Tigers back on track for the ACC Championship game -- wins over N.C. State and Virginia (or even one win and a loss by Boston College) will ice the Atlantic Division. Obviously, we've heard that before, during their November collapses with the division in their grasp in 2006 and 2007 and last year's season-long flop with a mountain of preseason hype behind them. Even as a heavy favorite against the Wolfpack and Cavaliers, this is the point in the season where Clemson regularly spit the bit with everything in its corner under Tommy Bowden. That may or may not be different under Dabo Swinney. But if he remains healthy enough to suit up, Spiller hasn't had a down game yet in '09, and there's no indication he'll be participating in any more disappearing acts.