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East Carolina dropped one spot to 14th in the Associated Press college football poll after a a 28-24 come-from-behind victory over Conference USA foe Tulane.

The Pirates moved up three spots to No. 17 in the latest USA Today coaches poll released Sunday.

The Pirates, 3-0 for the first time since 1999, have won five straight games dating back to a Nov. 24, 2007, win over Tulane, a streak that includes three consecutive wins over nationally-ranked teams (No. 24 Boise State, No. 17 Virginia Tech and No. 8 West Virginia).

The Pirates will face their third BCS opponent in four games when they play N.C. State on Saturday in Raleigh with a noon kickoff scheduled on ESPN.

Wake Forest moved up two spots to No. 18 in the AP poll during a bye week.

NOTRE DAME: Coach Charlie Weis will delay undergoing surgery on the knee he injured during Saturday's game against Michigan for at least a month and may forego it altogether. Weis said Sunday that if he decides to have the surgery it would be on a bye week for the Irish or after the season. He said he's not in a rush to do anything.

miscellany

SCHUMACHER GETS 53RD WIN: Tony Schumacher broke a tie with Joe Amato for the Top Fuel career victory record, taking the inaugural NHRA Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway in Concord for his 53rd triumph. Schumacher had a final-round performance of 3.882 seconds at 317.64 mph to hold off Antron Brown (3.923 at 309.42). It was Schumacher's seventh straight victory, 12th of the year, 28th consecutive elimination-round win and 14th final-round appearance -- all NHRA season Top Fuel records.

VANDE VELDE WINS: Christian Vande Velde won the Tour of Missouri cycling race, finishing with the main pack in the rain-shortened final stage. Vande Velde, the 32-year-old Illinois rider competing for Garmin-Chipotle, edged Australia's Michael Rogers (Team Columbia) by 18 seconds. Svein Tuft (Symmetrics) of Canada was third, 48 seconds back.

VETTEL CRUISES: Sebastian Vettel became the youngest driver to win a Formula One race when the 21-year-old German captured the Italian Grand Prix on a wet Monza (Italy) course that made for difficult driving. Vettel was on the pole and edged Heikki Kovalainen of McLaren by 12.5 seconds to give Torro Rosso its first victory.

RUSSIA RULES FED CUP: Russia's tennis team won its fourth Fed Cup in five years, defeating Spain in Madrid when Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Anabel Medina Garrigues 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 to clinch the title. The victory gave Russia an insurmountable 3-0 lead in the top team event in women's tennis.