BOSTON (AP) – When Tom O’Brien returns to Boston College on Saturday, he will know just about every player on the Eagles sideline.

He recruited them, taught them, coached them before he defected for Atlantic Coast Conference rival North Carolina State in December and took most of his staff with him.

“I think it will be good to see all those guys. But at the same time, we’ve got business to take care of,” BC quarterback Matt Ryan said. “After the game, it will be nice to see them – hopefully after a win. But until then you have to put all that on the back burner.”

O’Brien spent 10 years at Boston College, bringing the school out of a gambling scandal and into the ACC before leaving abruptly last season for a conference rival. He has a chance to renew acquaintances this week when he returns to Chestnut Hill, but mostly he’s looking for his first victory.

“I had a great experience at BC, and those kids are special kids up there,” he said. “But come Saturday, my job is to win the football game and do the best I can for these kids at N.C. State, and with every breath and passion I have, that’s what I’m going to do.”

The BC players will be trying to do the same and erase the pain of last year’s last-minute loss to the Wolfpack.

Boston College had the lead and the ball on N.C. State’s 35 after an interception with 3:08 left. But Daniel Evans threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to John Dunlap with 8.5 seconds left to give the Wolfpack a 17-15 victory.

“All the talk is about the coaches coming back. But most of the motivation is about the last play of the game,” linebacker Mark Herzlich said. “We remember that play, and losing the game on the final drive. It doesn’t really matter who’s on the sideline.”

Facing last year’s coaches isn’t just about motivation, though. O’Brien brought six members of his BC staff to N.C. State, including and offensive coordinator Dana Bible, so they know just about every player on the Eagles’ roster, their strengths, their weaknesses and their tendencies.

“Coach O’Brien knows what I do well, and he knows what I don’t,” linebacker Jolonn Dunbar said. “I’m sure he’s going to attack me in that way.”

N.C. State doesn’t have to think back to last year. The Wolfpack were handed a 25-23 loss to Central Florida in their opener as Evans, who retained the starting job in training camp, faltered.

Nebraska transfer Harrison Beck relieved him with about 4 minutes left in the first half and the Wolfpack down 22-3. Beck completed 17 of 28 passes for 207 yards and two touchdowns in the loss.

Beck will start against BC, O’Brien said.

The rest of his team will just have to snap out of it.

“The first thing they’ve got to recognize is they’re not as good as they think they are,” O’Brien said. “A lot of these guys got an overinflated image of who and what they are. Whether they thought they could roll their helmets out there and just win the football game on Saturday, they certainly couldn’t do that the first half.

“Now when they came out and decided they were going to play … with the limited ability that’s here, they have to play hard and they have to play smart every game. If they don’t, we’re going to have the same result, week in and week out.”

The team held a players-only meeting after the loss and discussed playing up to their potential.

“I really hate letting people down, especially the coaches,” linebacker Ernest Jones said. “It’s just real hard having a loss, especially the way we lost this past weekend. We didn’t really underestimate those guys. They’re just pretty good.”

AP-ES-09-07-07 1708EDT