• Rainbow regrets. Hawaii has handed down its judgment on coach Greg McMackin for his description of a Notre Dame cheer as "a little faggot dance" in front of a roomful of reporters during last week's WAC media days, and the coach took it like ... well, he took it:

Despite his tearful apology, McMackin is suspended without pay for 30 days and even "volunteered" to take a 7 percent pay cut in his $1 million-plus salary, amounting to $169,000, in addition to his outreach to homosexual groups. Charlie Weis accepts his apology on behalf of ... Notre Dame? Were the Irish really the offended parties here?

Just one personal note: Please, please don't let the term "teachable moment" enter the lexicon as a substitute for "obvious screw-up." Please.

• Scooter returns. The Orlando Sentinel had a very in-depth update on Lee Corso's ongoing recovery from a mild stroke Sunday, including the admission from the Sunshine Scooter himself that the diagnosis "scared the crap out of me" and a brief reenactment of the scene when Corso walked outside to grab the morning paper (how quaint) in May:

Somebody else came back into the house. That person, newspaper in hand, grabbed a glass of orange juice and sat down in the patio. He felt woozy. He then tried to talk.

"Gaaagggh, baaahh." Pure gibberish.

But how could anyone could tell the difference?! Hey-o!

OK, seriously: Corso -- a few days short of his 74th birthday -- is undergoing speech therapy and remains on schedule to be back on the air as usual in the fall, which makes the Sentinel's description of him "popping out of that coffin" a bit cryptic. But the only thing more ironic than the loudest man in college football temporarily losing his ability to speak? The director of business development of the Dixon-Ticonderoga pencil company -- Corso's day job -- having to teach himself to write again.

It's not soft. We prefer 'supple.' If there's one thing everyone can agree on this offseason, it's the embarrassment of Penn State's non-conference schedule -- the Lions have been repeatedly called out for a lineup of Akron, Syracuse, Temple and Eastern Illinois. Even a Big Ten blogger in spin mode has to admit PSU "scheduled easy," intentionally or not, before resurrecting the interregional gauntlet next year at Alabama. But don't tell that to Daryll Clark:

"We're not going to take any of those teams lightly," senior quarterback and co-captain Daryll Clark said. ... "The schedule is not soft. The teams are there for a reason."

And that reason is to make sure the largest stadium in the country is in use as often as possible (eight times this year) and send the natives home happy with an easy win.

• Joe knows hopeless ideas for self-promotion. The L.A. Times teased a Sunday story with the prospect of star running back Joe McKnight moving to the Southern Cal secondary at times this year -- after all, McKnight was a star DB in high school, "has been practicing at defensive back in informal workouts" and says he'd like to make the move across the line in the fall in the vague hopes of enhancing his value to pro scouts. Ambitious.

And the odds of it actually happening? About as good as Taylor Mays' bid for the Heisman:

Coach Pete Carroll said McKnight had the tools to contribute on defense but probably wouldn't get the opportunity.

"Joe's always talked about that and wanting to do it because he wants to do everything," Carroll said. "But I don't think it's going to happen. He's good enough to do it. He's capable of doing it, but we have other guys that are capable."

Pete Carroll: Master of understatement. Aside from the existing talent in the Trojan secondary, McKnight admits "I forget about all the coverages and lock on one person." So this will be the end of that.

Quickly ... The Gainesville Sun has video of Tim Tebow preaching to prisoners. ... Even after Oklahoma held Florida to its lowest point total of the season, the Austin American-Statesman borrows the "weak defense" meme from the SEC to ask if the Big 12 is overrated, though it also calls the SEC "fancy boys." ... Stodgy traditionalist Lloyd Carr reverses course on his support for a playoff, apparently due to Utah's run last year. ... The Cleveland Plain Dealer says the hype machine was over-firing on Terrelle Pryor on the media's All-Big Ten team. But Pryor's teammates vouch for his maturation. ... AnnArbor.com agrees with MGoBlog: After some buildup to the announcement, the Wolverines' 2010 opener with UConn is a shrugger. ... Florida fans may enjoy the bootleg shirt of their choice, "licensed only by the First Amendment." ... Pete Carroll continues to urge his players to stay through their senior year despite the siren call of real fame and fortune. ... Les Miles says there's no question LSU's quarterbacks will be better than in 2008, presumably because Jarrett Lee will be on the bench. ... Another coach complains about the heat in Seattle. (Just like Ty Willingham!) ... Doug Marrone has "never been around a college athlete" who has worked as hard as Greg Paulus has this offseason in preparation to compete for Syracuse's starting job. ... Louisville signee Taylor "Boogie" McCray was booted from the team for unspecified reasons less than a month after arriving on campus. ... Rich Brooks insists he's recruiting players that can compete on the SEC level. Not necessarily that well on the SEC level, but they'll be out there. ... Assessing Jacory Harris' beautiful afro butterfly. ... When have the running backs at Wisconsin not been more important than the quarterback? ... And here's how N.C. State quarterback Russell Wilson knows he's arrived in the ACC: Bobby Bowden remembers his name.