Offensive lineman Sam Young, a 300-pounder from Florida considered one of the top 20 players in the country, and running back James Aldridge of Indiana are the jewels of Notre Dame’s class.

Meyer’s 9-3 debut with Florida wasn’t met with as much euphoria as Weis’ first season, but this recruiting class should ease any worries Gator Nation might have about the Ohio native.

Florida signed receiver Percy Harvin from Virginia, rated the top player in the country by Rivals.com, and highly touted quarterback Tim Tebow of Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

“It’s the same recipe for success that Pete Carroll uses at USC,” Burton said. “Take care of home base and then go to the rest of the nation to get the best of the best.”

In the minds of many Florida fans, landing Tebow was as important for Meyer as his wins over Florida State, Georgia and Tennessee.

With quarterback Chris Leak entering his senior season and last season’s backup, Josh Portis, transferring, Tebow has a chance to shoot up the Gators’ depth chart.

Carroll and Texas coach Mack Brown are college football’s current kings of signing day. And the Rose Bowl rivals were at it again Wednesday, signing classes that should keep the Longhorns and Trojans in championship contention for years.

Brown again lured most of the best players in the Lone Star state to Austin.

The Longhorns’ latest class has 23 players from Texas, highlighted by defensive end Eddie Jones from Kilgore, linebacker Sergio Kindle from Dallas and quarterback Jevan Snead from Stephenville.

Signing Day top players Top five high school players according to three of the top recruiting analysts: Player Pos. Home College Rivals.com 1. Percy Harvin WR Florida Florida 2. Andre Smith OL Alabama Alabama 3. Chris Wells RB Ohio Ohio St. 4. Gerald McCoy DT Okla. Okla. 5. Sergio Kindle LB Texas Texas SuperPrep/Scout.com 1. Chris Wells RB Ohio Ohio St. 2. Andre Smith OL Alabama Alabama 3. Sam Young OL Florida ND 4. Gerald McCoy DT Okla. Okla. 5. Vidal Hazelton WR Virginia USC Scouts.Inc 1. Myron Rolle S N.J. Fla. St. 2. Percy Harvin WR Florida Florida 3. Vidal Hazelton WR Virginia USC 4. Andre Smith OL Alabama Alabama 5. Mitchell Mustain QB Ark. Ark.

Snead is already enrolled at Texas, and with Vince Young’s early departure for the NFL, he’s expected to compete for the starting job next season.

The Trojans went looking for running backs to replace Reggie Bush and LenDale White, who both entered the NFL draft as juniors.

Carroll’s crew came away with a pair of players ranked among the 10 best running backs in the country by Rivals.com in Stafon Johnson from Los Angeles and Emmanuel Moody from Coppell, Texas.

“I’m very pleased with the class of football players that we signed,” Carroll said. “I’m really proud of the job our coaching staff did in recruiting the best players from California and also getting some of the top out-of-state players. They worked hard to get a group of players who will come in and compete for playing time right away.”

USC’s willingness to play freshmen has been a big seller with recruits. Now Penn State and Paterno can make the same claim.

Speedy freshmen Derrick Williams and Justin King played key roles in Penn State’s turnaround as the Nittany Lions went 11-1 and won the Big Ten last season.

Penn State plucked Williams out of Maryland and reached into that state again for seven more players this year, including top-rated cornerback A.J. Wallace.

The cries of “Joe Must Go!” have been silenced, and recruits seem confident that the 79-year-old Paterno isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

“I really have no worries about Paterno,” said defensive end Aaron Maybin, one of the Maryland contingent. “If anybody knows Coach Paterno, he’s not trying to leave until he wins another national championship.”