We're one Saturday away from November. That means it's time to trim the list of Heisman hopefuls to the select few who still have a chance to earn that invitation to the Downtown Athletic Club.

Ron Dayne lumbered into the lead on the strength of his 214-yard performance against Michigan State's top-ranked run defense. Going into the game, the Spartans had given up 279 rushing yards in seven games. Wisconsin rushed for 301.

Dayne's pursuit of Ricky Williams' rushing record also heated up. The big Badger needs 161 yards per game over his final three contests (at Northwestern, at Purdue, vs. Iowa) to break Williams' record of 6,279 yards. If Dayne sets the record, it'd be very hard not to reward him with the Heisman.

As for last week's leader Joe Hamilton, what the gods of fortune give, they also take away. Hamilton jumped into the No. 1 spot after Peter Warrick was suspended. This week, he rescinded the top spot because he had the misfortune of having a bye on the same Saturday that Dayne came up big.

Warrick returned with an 11-catch, 121-yard day but even extended highlight-reel time won't be able to offset the loss of two games' worth of statistics, nor will it erase the stigma of his off-the-field problems.

Here's a look at our top five following Saturday's action:

RON DAYNE -- WISCONSIN		STATS
1.	Breaking it down: Like a boulder picking up speed rolling downhill, Dayne is rumbling toward Ricky Williams' NCAA rushing record. He now needs 483 yards to become the all-time leading rusher in Division I-A history.	Opponent vs. Michigan State Season	Car-Yds 34-214 209-1,234	TD 2 15
JOE HAMILTON -- GEORGIA TECH		STATS
2.	Breaking it down: His absence from the highlights during Dayne's big day erodes his position. With five games left in the season, Hamilton has time to make up for it.	Opponent Idle Season	Cmp-Att-Yds   Rush-Yds   102-152-1,671 72-293	TD-INT     14-4 6
SHAUN ALEXANDER -- ALABAMA		STATS
3.	Breaking it down: Had streak of six straight 100-yard rushing days snapped in loss to Tennessee. His 148 all-purpose yards were about the only form of offense the Tide could muster.	Opponent vs. Tennessee Season	Rush-Yds 20-98 Rec-Yds 6-50 191-1,032 18-264	TD 0 1 18
DREW BREES -- PURDUE		STATS
4.	Breaking it down: Almost jumped to the head of the class with an upset of Penn State, but he misfired on four attempts from the 12-yard line and the Boilermakers fell short.	Opponent vs. Penn State Season	Cmp-Att-Yds 31-48-380 222-365-2,712	TD-INT 2-1 21*-9 *includes two rushing TDs, one receiving TD
CHAD PENNINGTON -- MARSHALL		STATS
5.	Breaking it down: Posted the stats he needed against winless Buffalo without seeming like he was picking on the first-year I-A team.	Opponent vs. Buffalo Season	Cmp-Att-Yds 20-25-339 158-248-2,301	TD-INT 5-0 22-7