There wasn't any doubt what Todd Graham's first question would be during his Monday press conference.

What are his thoughts on playing at Rice on Saturday afternoon, where he coached in 2006 before returning to Tulsa?

"I went there without the intention of being there one year and leaving," Graham said. "But there was no question for me and my family and my coaches and their families that we made the right decision."

Graham reiterated that TU's commitment to football made it easy to return.

"I'm not talking about how much money that they're paying me," said Graham, who led Rice to its first bowl game in 45 years. "I was upset with some of the things that were leaked to the media that were outright lies, like how much money I am making.

"People were saying that I am making $1.1 million . . . that's not true."

Graham did say that he regrets not letting the Rice players know exactly why he was leaving.

"I wish I would have gone into a little more detail of why I was leaving," Graham said. "At the time, I felt what was best for the program was for me not to do that. I wanted the program

Way to go: Graham's opening statement wasn't about the Rice game.

"First of all, I want to congratulate our volleyball team and men's soccer team for winning Conference USA championships," Graham said. "We're really proud of them."

Big game: Tulsa will play for the right to advance to its second Conference USA title game in three years if it defeats the Owls.

If Tulsa and Central Florida wins on Saturday, those teams will meet on Dec. 1 in Orlando, Fla. If UCF loses, East Carolina and TU would play at the higher-rated BCS school. If Tulsa loses, Houston will be the West Division representative.

Tulsa's players have participated in many big games. This may be the biggest yet.

"Our kids are focused and they'll be fired up this week," Graham said. "I can assure you that there won't be any problems getting them motivated to go down to Houston."

The C-USA title game is at 11 a.m. and will be shown on ESPN cable channel 25.

Paul Smith, the punter: Smith has set numerous school passing records this season, but he was also nominated for C-USA special teams player of the week.

He wasn't selected, but had an outstanding performance in TU's 49-39 win at Army. He punted twice for a 50-yard average and placed both punts inside the 10-yard line.

"I enjoy it and I have a lot of fun kicking the ball down there as long as it takes a good hop," said Smith, who has punted 10 times for a 40.9 average.