ESPN College Football

Cincinnati quarterback Ben Mauk is making another attempt at playing one more season with the Bearcats, and this appeal will be played out in the Ohio courts.

Mauk, who transferred to Cincinnati from Wake Forest before the 2007 season, filed a lawsuit against the NCAA on Thursday. Various media outlets in Ohio reported Hardin County Judge William Hart has granted a temporary restraining order, which prevents the NCAA from not allowing Mauk to practice at Cincinnati.

Last week, Mauk lost his latest appeal to the NCAA, which for the third time refused to grant him a sixth year of eligibility. Mauk broke his right arm and separated his right shoulder while starting for the Demon Deacons in the 2006 opener. He missed the rest of the 2006 season, and Riley Skinner took over the starting job and led Wake Forest to an ACC title.

After transferring to Cincinnati as a graduate student in 2007, Mauk was eligible to play immediately for the Bearcats under new NCAA rules. Mauk appealed to the NCAA for a sixth year of eligibility, claiming he didn't play during his freshman season at Wake Forest in 2003 because of injuries. The NCAA reinstatement committee denied his appeal, saying there wasn't sufficient medical evidence to support his claim.

So now Mack his taking his battle to court. The move isn't unprecedented. In 1999, Northwestern quarterback Zachary Kustok sued the NCAA for his eligibility before reaching an out-of-court settlement. Kustock sued the NCAA to regain his eligibility during the 1999 season, claiming the year he spent at a junior college after leaving Notre Dame fulfilled the NCAA's one-year penalty for transferring to another Division I-A school. Kustok played in the final seven games in 1999 and led the Wildcats to a share of the Big Ten championship the next year.

In 1996, Texas Tech offensive lineman Casey Jones sued the NCAA for his eligibility after it ruled he was academically deficient. A Texas lower court granted Jones a temporary injunction to play the second half of the 1996 season. The NCAA appealed to a higher court, but by the time the Texas Supreme Court heard its arguments the Red Raiders' season was over. Former Fresno State basketball player Larry Abney also successfully sued the NCAA in 1996 to regain a season of eligibility. Abney sued the NCAA after the NCAA Clearinghouse declared him ineligible as a freshman. The eligibility clearinghouse ruled one of Abney's math courses from high school didn't meet its standards.

Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly told me at last month's Big East media day in Newport , R.I. , that he was preparing for the worst in terms of Mauk's future with the team. Kelly spent the spring and summer preparing senior Dustin Grutza to be his team's starting quarterback.

"We'd be happy for Ben, but our football team moved forward this spring and summer," Kelly said. "Who I feel bad for is Ben Mauk. He needs to know what his future is and whether it includes football or not."

Kelly believes Grutza, who started under center before Mauk arrived at Cincinnati , can handle the job.

"Dustin doesn't have all the pressure," Kelly said. "It's not like, 'You've got to replace Ben Mauk.' He doesn't have to be Ben Mauk.'"

Kelly said Notre Dame transfer Demetrius Jones, who is battling for the backup quarterback job, probably won't be ready to go until midseason. Jones arrived at Cincinnati with an ailing right shoulder. Doctors discovered he had a torn labrum and tendonitis.

Kelly is keeping a diary for the Cincinnati Enquirer from the Bearcats' Camp Higher Ground in West Harrison, Ind.

Elsewhere in the Big East: 

* The Charleston (W. Va.) Daily Mail has a recap of West Virginia 's closed scrimmage on Wednesday. Coach Bill Stewart didn't provide many details, but did say Noel Devine ran for a touchdown and Pat White threw for a score. Stewart continues to rave about receiver Jock Sanders' performance in preseason camp.

* The Daily Mail also reported earlier this week that Mountaineers linebacker Reed Williams doesn't expect to play in the Aug. 30 opener against Villanova. Williams, the team's leading tackler in 2007, had surgeries to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder in January and in his left in March.

* Quarterback Mike Teel lit up the Rutgers defense in the team's first scrimmage on Wednesday, according to the Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger. Teel went 9-for-10 for 123 yards and threw a 12-yard touchdown to Kenny Britt on his first drive. Mason Robinson got the start at tailback, but left the practice with a bruised hip. Robinson was the leading runner with 48 yards on seven carries. In all, the offense scored on its first five possessions, including four touchdowns.

* The Syracuse Post Standard reported that outside linebacker Mike Mele practiced for the first time Wednesday. The projected starter missed the first week with a turf toe injury.

* South Florida tailback Mike Ford, the team's leading freshman runner last season, is trying to work his way up the Bulls' depth chart, according to the Tampa Tribune.