Nearly a month ago, Clemson and Florida State were two football programs heading in the wrong direction.

The Tigers’ record stood at 2-3 after five games, the third loss to what has proven to be an awful Maryland team, while Florida State saw its record drop to 2-4 following a loss to Georgia Tech at home. Neither team gave its fans any reason to believe that the remainder of the season would get any better — especially considering Clemson had upcoming games against Wake and Miami while FSU had to face North Carolina in a Thursday night road game.

But fast forward nearly a month and you will find two programs heading in the right direction. While Clemson was posting convincing home wins over perennially pesky Wake Forest and outmanned Coastal Carolina squads, not to mention its huge road win over then top 10 Miami, Florida State came from way behind to upset North Carolina in Chapel Hill and survive an offensive shootout at home with N.C. State.

Entering today’s game, the Tigers have won three in a row while Florida State brings a two-game winning streak. However, one of these teams will see its win streak and momentum, at least temporarily, end while the other will continue their hot streak for at least another week.

Making the stakes even higher is that tonight’s game at Death Valley will be televised nationally on ESPN. While it won’t have the same “Bowden Bowl” hysteria that accompanied the first few meetings between FSU head coach Bobby Bowden and son Tommy — when the latter was the Tigers head coach — both teams want to beat the other in the worst way.

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney, seeking his first win over the Seminoles after last year’s loss in Tallahassee, and his players realize that even though FSU isn’t the powerhouse it once was, a win over that program is still a quality one. Also, a win over the ’Noles would most likely vault the Tigers into the Top 25 and continue Clemson’s control over its own ACC title game destiny.

Meanwhile, Florida State knows that a win would also enhance Bowden’s return next season. Prior to its recent winning streak, Bowden’s future was largely in doubt — fueled by calls from an FSU Board of Trustee member that a change was necessary. Those calls have quieted some since the Seminoles began winning, but a loss to Clemson and to Florida in its regular season finale would give the program six losses — therefore renewing calls for Bowden to retire.

Tonight’s matchup will pit FSU’s high-octane offense, led by quarterback Christian Ponder, against Clemson’s stingy defense. The Tigers ‘D,’ which will miss Da’Quan Bowers following his knee injury last week, must hope that freshman Malliciah Goodman can join Ricky Sapp in wreaking havoc on Ponder as they did to Wake Forest quarterback Riley Skinner several weeks ago. Ponder, who suffered bruised ribs in the win over N.C. State, must be pressured and even sacked if Clemson hopes to win this game.

The Tiger offense, which has shown signs of improvement in recent weeks, must give Florida State a heavy dose of running back C.J. Spiller. Spiller barely saw action in the Coastal Carolina game so, hopefully, he will be ready to receive the same type of workload against FSU that he did at Miami. Clemson quarterback Kyle Parker must also complete passes to keep the FSU defense from keying on Spiller and use his feet to gain yardage when receivers are covered. Parker must also limit bad throws that led to interceptions against Miami and Coastal Carolina during the past two games.

Special teams will also play a vital role as you can bet the Seminoles will be keying on Spiller. Wake Forest and Coastal Carolina chose not to kick the ball to Spiller or wide receiver Jacoby Ford, instead using high, short kicks that achieved their goal but also gave Clemson excellent field position. Clemson place-kicker Richard Jackson must also deliver, if called upon in the closing seconds of a close game, and punter Dawson Zimmerman must pin Florida State deep on punts to give the Tiger defense plenty of room to operate.

On paper, this appears to be a matchup of two teams with obvious strengths and equally obvious weaknesses. Clemson’s strength, its defense, will be frequently tested by what has become the FSU Air Show in recent weeks while the Tigers offense must continue its improved play of late against a Seminole defense that isn’t nearly as good as it was in the 1990s.

This could all come down to which team has the fewest turnovers, as both teams appear to be pretty evenly matched. Fans attending tonight’s game should expect to be there for a while as Ponder will heave the ball virtually from the get-go, coupled with the fact that there will be plenty of television timeouts. I’m putting the odds at a midnight ending.

While this game has huge ramifications for both teams, Clemson has the most at stake in more than one way. Spiller has an opportunity to boost his Heisman Trophy candidacy with the same type of outstanding performance he exhibited two weeks ago at Miami and, most importantly, the Tigers have an opportunity to boost their chances of reaching the ACC title game with a win — even though games at N.C. State and the home finale against Virginia still remain.

All things considering, the latter goal is the one that Spiller and, most certainly, Tiger fans are most interested in achieving.