THEIR PLAY WILL PUT DISPOSITION ON DISPLAY.

Byline: KEVIN MODESTI

SAN JOSE - UCLA's bowl game does not reward the winners with national-championship rings. Nor is the Silicon Valley Football Classic the Bruins' idea of a brass ring.

If tonight's game against Fresno State brings to mind any kind of ring, it would be a mood ring.

Maybe you don't remember mood rings because you weren't alive in the 1970s - or maybe you don't remember mood rings because you were living too hard in the '70s - but they were the fad items that promised to reveal the wearers' emotional states. Happy, and the skin's warm glow turned the stones dark blue; ticked off, and the chill turned them black. Calm, green; nervous, amber.

Whether the Bruins win or lose this game at soggy Spartan Stadium will tell us a lot about the team's emotional state as coach Karl Dorrell's difficult rookie season ends and the program's future unfolds.

Do the Bruins have their heads on straight after a 6-6 regular season, which ended with a four-game losing streak and another blowout loss to USC? Then the four-point favorites will beat Fresno State.

Or have they packed it in, stopped caring about each other and Dorrell? Then they'll lose.

Are the Bruins eager to use this ESPN2 stage to prove they aren't as mediocre as their record, that there's a heart beating under those powder- blue jerseys going into 2004? Then they'll stay unbeaten against Fresno State.

Or are they just angry at being relegated to this low-rent event, Pacific-10 Conference prima donnas unmotivated by the chance to whack the WAC? Then they'll lose.

That's the way it is with any bowl game like the Silicon Valley, or any bowl game against Fresno State, or any bowl game that big-time schools don't so much aspire to as settle for. These can be tougher tests than the big-time bowls.

USC found that out when it played Fresno State in the 1992 Freedom Bowl. The Trojans called it a ``no-win situation'' and played like it, the Trent Dilfer-led Bulldogs winning 24-7 on a damp night at Anaheim Stadium, which was packed with more Fresno fans than locals. Trojans coach Larry Smith was fired four days later.

Dorrell would face no such dire consequences if UCLA loses to Fresno State. But he's aware tonight's result will say a lot about his leadership. The Bruins won't have injured Ben Emanuel, Ryan Smith and Tyler Ebell, and they have precious little backup for starting quarterback Drew Olson, but that would be no excuse for an upset.

``We're fortunate enough to be in a bowl, and fortunate enough to be here in the Silicon Valley Classic, and our kids are very appreciative of that,'' Dorrell said Monday in a joint news conference with Fresno State coach Pat Hill. ``The way that we've ended our season wasn't exactly the way that most teams would want to end the season. We're trying to build on a foundation that we established this year, and hopefully provide some positive momentum going into next season.''

If the Rose Bowl, in which USC will try to beat Michigan on Thursday and claim a kind of national title, is the tradition-rich Granddaddy of Them All, then the Silicon Valley Classic is one of a couple of dozen shack- dwelling grandkids.

A bowl game is supposed to be a reward for a season well done. But the 5-year-old Silicon Valley offers no parade floats, no sunshine, no glory.

The Bruins' pep rally Monday night had to be moved from a downtown park to a hotel lobby after a day of umbrella-bending rain and wind.

Although the storm is supposed to blow over by the 7:30 game time, the Spartan Stadium field is going to be a quagmire, and both coaches say the crummy conditions will put a premium on ``ball security'' and kicking, hardly encouraging words for potential ticket-buyers.

At least the host city is showering the Bruins with attention, right? The pregame coverage in Sunday's San Jose Mercury News consisted of a three- line listing under ``Bay Area Events'' on page 2. It got a little better in Monday's paper, which had a page 4 story about the importance of the matchup to Fresno State's big-time aspirations.

It would be wrong, though, to say the game means more for Fresno State than for UCLA. If you're the Bruins, and you've won only two bowl games in the past 11 seasons, you're in no position to take a little one less than seriously.

If you're Dorrell, or if you're the sophomore Olson, it's the last chance in 2003 to show the fans something.

The program's temperature will be taken tonight.