Troy Smith

The pregame fun began with Troy Smith waiting his turn to run through a tunnel of ex-Buckeyes, Ohio State's senior quarterback playfully pawing at the turf like a bull ready to charge.

The postgame fun kicked in some three hours later, with Michigan waving more white flags than red capes.

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Troy Smith had done it to the Wolverines again. He muffled "Hail to the Victors" with his magic and authored "Troy Story III" to the sheer delight of a record Ohio Stadium crowd of 105,708.

Smith must be floating on Cloud Ten today.

Yes, that high.

If he soared any higher in the superstar stratosphere he'd come to an exit ramp marked "Pearly Gates."

Days before engineering Saturday's rollicking 42-39 victory and cementing his place among Ohio State immortals, Troy Smith was asked what it must be like to be Troy Smith.

"It's cool," he said.

So cool he's almost hotter than LeBron. Certainly, between the shoe-horned crowd in the 'Shoe and the national TV audience, No. 10 had more witnesses Saturday.

How cool would it be to be in Troy's cleats right now?

It's gotta be cool knowing the only other Ohio State quarterback to go 3-0 against Michigan was Tippy Dye and that the 91-year-old Dye was in the press box to see you match his feat.

Cool is becoming the first OSU quarterback to throw four touchdowns against Michigan and setting the school's single-season mark (30) at your archrival's expense.

Cool is taking a vicious late hit to the head, treating it like nothing more than a love tap and throwing the decisive touchdown pass three plays later.

Cool is knowing it doesn't matter what Brady Quinn does against USC or that Quinn is a more NFL-ready quarterback. Only one of Columbus' favorite sons is carting off the Heisman in 19 days ... and it ain't Brady.

Cool is shredding Michigan's vaunted defense with 21 completions and three touchdowns -- before halftime -- while playing at a Montana, Elway and Marino level. Wait a minute. Maybe those Hall of Famers played at your level.

Cool is knowing there's never been another 1,000-yard back