Way back in February when the American Conference released its schedule, I wrote in this space that Army is the most important game for Temple this season.

Not Rhode Island.

Not Penn State.

Not Toledo.

Army.

There were a couple of reasons for that back then that still hold true today.

One, Temple’s goal is not and should not be to win the national title. Selling out to beat Penn State and, to a lesser extent, Toledo, would have served that unrealistic purpose. The only realistic goal for Temple is to win a league of like-minded schools, The American, and this is the first American Conference game.

To win the American Conference beating Army on Friday (4 p.m. start, ESPN’s flagship station), is a must because the next game at South Florida figures to be a tougher task. To get into the American Conference championship game means no more than one conference loss and it can’t be Army and it can’t be at home.

When All-American tight end Peter Clarke evaluated the team a month ago at the conference’s media day, he said anything less than a league title would be unacceptable. He was responsible for keeping this team together so it appears he is dead serious.

There are some clear signs that Temple is the side tonight.

Chief among them was my hope that one quarterback would seize the job and run with it. After the first two games, it looked like it might be a back-and-forth with Jaxon Smolik and Ajani Sheppard that served no good purpose for Temple.

It didn’t matter how someone seized the job. It mattered that someone did. I thought that might never happen.

Fortunately, I was wrong.

Sheppard was that guy with 162 passing yards and 99 rushing yards in the 49-48 OT loss at Toledo. He proved that this is a guy you can win the conference title with. Incredible relief that one of those two guys have the “it” factor, and right now, it’s Sheppard.

Two, Temple head coach K.C. Keeler–18-3 against the spread in his last 21 games as an underdog– wisely held out an 85 percent Sam Brown–a high-end quality “Big 10” back–in the first and second games to wait until he was 100 percent.

Three, a “100 percent” Brown proved what a weapon he was against Toledo, rushing for 105 yards and making a couple of all-world catches, one for a touchdown.

He’s the kind of special player Army does not have with the possible exception of quarterback Cale Hellums nor the inexperienced Army rushing defense figures to stop.

Here’s the difference between Army and Temple in the athlete department: Army is returning only three defensive starters from a year ago and Temple has quality edge athletes in Brown, fellow running back Keveun Mason and receivers Clarke, Colin Chase and JoJo Bermudez.

Those are the kind of guys who have speed that Army can’t counter.

There is, though, a flip side and a mental to physical aspect of the game.

Can the Owls shake off the searing disappointment of losing to Toledo in overtime in one of the toughest losses in Temple history?

That’s a damn good question.

Temple seems to have the physical edge but head coach K.C. Keeler said in Monday’s presser than they worked extra hard with a “24-hour rule” to put that Toledo game out of their minds.

If it lingers anywhere in the back of those minds, the Owls will lose. If the Owls use the physical advantages they have, most importantly speed, they will win.

Any Temple alums or students who want to help out the kids show up and be heard would certainly make a difference. This is not the time for any of the 250,000 alums within an hour’s drive of the stadium to sit home and watch on TV. Hopefully, the 12,000 students who live on campus will take advantage of those free subway rides that take them from the main campus to the stadium in 10 minutes.

This win would totally wipe out the disappointment of a week ago and is way more important than what has happened since opening day.

Friday Near Midnight: Game Analysis