BRIEFLY HEARING MONDAY IN SUIT AGAINST ACC.

Byline: Daily News Staff and Wire Services

While Big East Conference officials are close to reshaping the conference in response to the defections of football powers Miami and Virginia Tech, the legal dispute that resulted from the departures is still ongoing.

A Connecticut judge will hear arguments Monday from the Atlantic Coast Conference and Miami on whether to dismiss the case on jurisdictional grounds. The hearing will include sworn depositions taken over the past several weeks from Miami athletic director Paul Dee and ACC commissioner John Swofford.

The defendants are accused of participating in a conspiracy intended to weaken the Big East.

--Ohio State will wait until at least the spring to ask the NCAA to reinstate suspended running back Maurice Clarett.

--John David Washington (Campbell Hall of North Hollywood), the son of actor Denzel Washington, ran for a school-record 242 yards and a touchdown as Morehouse beat Johnson C. Smith 39-21 in Charlotte, N.C.

--North Texas tied an NCAA Division I-A record by scoring on three safeties against visiting Louisiana-Lafayette. North Texas tied the record set by Arizona State against Nebraska in 1996.

--Former Auburn coach Earl Brown, who helped renew the series with Alabama after a 41-year hiatus, has died at age 87. He died Tuesday in Leesburg, Fla., Auburn announced.

HOCKEY: Maxim Kuznetsov, the Kings defenseman who has missed the first two weeks of training camp because of visa problems in his native Russia, will fly to Toronto on Tuesday and could rejoin the club by the end of the week.

Kuznetsov, expected to compete for the fifth or sixth spot on defense, was denied a visa in Russia because he was late filing the proper documentation at the July deadline. He has a 5-year-old drunken-driving arrest in New York state. When he did not file on time, he was denied the chance to travel to the United States.

BASKETBALL: The Clippers and Seattle center Predrag Drobnjak have agreed on a contract, but exactly how and when he will become a Clipper is up in the air. The SuperSonics are not interested in retaining the center because of financial reasons.

The Clippers and Sonics likely will agree to a sign-and-trade deal today with the Clippers giving the Sonics a future second-round pick. If the deal hits a snag, the Clippers plan to give the restricted free agent an offer sheet that the Sonics will have 15 days to match.

GOLF: In San Antonio, Tommy Armour III tied the PGA Tour's 54-hole scoring record and extended his lead in the Texas Open to six strokes.

Armour birdied the last three holes, including a 53-foot putt on 18, to cap a 63 that left him at 21-under-par 189 after three rounds.

Valencia resident Duffy Waldorf (Taft High of Woodland Hills/UCLA), a two-time Texas Open champion, turned in a 62 to vault into second.

--Lee Westwood made a 218-yard shot for a double-eagle 2 on his final hole of a 10-under 62 to lead the Dunhill Links Championship in St. Andrews, Scotland, by a stroke.

--Beth Daniel shot a 73, 11 strokes worse than her opening round, but that was enough to get her in a tie for the 36-hole lead with defending champion Annika Sorenstam and Cristie Kerr at the LPGA Safeway Classic in Portland, Ore.

ETC.: The Greek government and Olympic organizers denied a report that undercover agents found serious lapses while testing security for the 2004 Games. A report in the Washington Post quoted unidentified American intelligence sources as saying undercover agents twice smuggled fake bombs past security checkpoints in Athens.