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Cory Hogue experienced the rivalries during his football career at Naples High School.

Barron Collier in the regular season, he said, Immokalee and Lely during the playoffs.

During the past four years, the Central Florida senior linebacker has been smack in the middle of the school’s rivalry with South Florida, whose climb into the national spotlight in 2005 coincided with the series debut.

In the series finale at UCF tonight in Orlando, the Knights will try to beat the favored Bulls, who have won the three earlier games.

Hogue sat out last week’s opener because of a left leg injury but said he will be in the lineup against No. 17 USF. He will renew exchanges with players from those high school rivalries: Bulls running back Moise Plancher, a Barron Collier product, and safety Louis Gachette, an Immokalee graduate.

“There is so much hype about it,” Hogue said. “We need to do what we need to do.”

A starter in the previous meetings, Hogue likes the Knights’ chances to show some bite of their own.

“Every year we’ve progressively gotten better and better,” he said. “I think this year is going to be a big year for us, especially defensively.”

Hogue has done his part. He had 10 tackles in last year’s 64-12 loss, and five tackles, a sack and a forced fumble in the 2006 contest. He had five tackles in the 2005 game.

A UCF win would do wonders for a squad looking for redemption from last year’s debacle against the Bulls, far removed from the 24-17 and 31-14 decisions in 2006 and 2005, respectively.

“We did that to ourselves,” Hogue said. “We didn’t go out and perform. It’s a new year, new game.”

Knights offensive lineman Mike Buxton played in four games last year, including the game against USF. The junior has played sparingly but saw action in the season opening win over South Carolina State.

“Last year was very disappointing,” the Estero High graduate said. “Of course we don’t want to look back upon it. We want to continue growing as a program.”

The Bulls, meantime, sniff a decisive blow.

“We’ve beaten them three times,” USF running backs coach Carl Franks said. “But everybody remembers the last time.”

One reason the game means so much is that many players have squared off against the other side so many times already.

“There’s a certain degree of bragging rights,” Franks said. “These guys play each other in high school. There is a certain amount of pride on the line.”

Gachette is pumped to be in his fourth game against UCF. The hype hasn’t gotten old to the senior, who had two solo tackles and a pass breakup in last season’s contest.

“Not many people get to really have something like this,” Gachette said. “It’s great.”

Plancher is hoping to make an impact the way he did in the team’s opener, when the junior rushed for 65 yards on eight carries and scored two touchdowns. He gained 1 yard on one carry in the 2007 win over UCF.

“It’s really exciting,” Plancher said of the rivalry. “But every year, every game is the same. We have to win. We have to go out there and play hard.”

No doubt Plancher epitomizes the game day order. His career has been maligned by injury and personal tragedy, including the death last year of his cousin Ereck Plancher, who collapsed after UCF football conditioning drills. Moise Plancher’s road to recovery has been long and difficult, a fact not lost on staff and players.

“He’s had a lot of practice going day by day,” Franks said. “It’s a one-game season. I think that’s the right way to do it.”