NFL studio analyst and former Super Bowl-winning quarterback Trent Dilfer will call his first college football game with ESPN on Wednesday, Nov. 18. Dilfer will provide analysis in the booth with play-by-play annoucner Dave Lamont at Ball State when the Cardinals host the Central Michigan Chippewas at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN2 and ESPN360.com.

Dilfer regularly does analysis for NFL Live, NFL PrimeTime and SportsCenter. He also contributes to Monday Night Countdown, ESPN Radio and ESPN’s annual Super Bowl week and NFL Draft coverage. He once called a college football game – while he was still in college.

“I’m very ambitious and love to challenge myself,” he said. “The only time I’ve done color commentary is for the Senior Bowl when I was still at Fresno State. I want to continue to challenge myself in this career and this is a great opportunity to get involved in the college game and stretch my TV talents.”

The play-calling lineups for ESPN’s Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday games have included Rece Davis, Lou Holtz and Mark May; the SEC Network’s Dave Neal and Andre Ware; Eric Collins and Ray Bentley; and Bob Wischusen and Brian Greise.

“It is totally different; night and day in terms of prep,” Dilfer said. “I consider myself an expert in the NFL world. I live and breathe it. The college game, I’m a fan but I haven’t invested the same amount of time and energy into learning and knowing the game inside and out like the NFL.

“The game itself and the global themes are the same, but I’ve had to spend lots of hours doing film prep, understanding the story lines, team and game history, coaching staff and players. It’s been a really great challenge – and I have some anxiety, but it’s stretching your capacity to learn that excites me.”

The Monday Night Football/NFL Studio Shows session started with terrific Sunday NFL Countdown promos featuring Chris Berman, Tom Jackson and a host of other ESPN personalities. Very funny!

Jay Rothman (Sr. coordinating producer, MNF); Stephanie Druley (Sr. coordinating producer, NFL Studio shows); analysts Trent Dilfer and Tom Jackson were on hand to discuss the upcoming 40^th season of Monday Night Football, NFL studio shows and the upcoming season  during this morning’s session at the ESPN Media Workshop.

Druley gave a detailed rundown of ESPN’s NFL studio shows such as Sunday NFL Countdown and Monday Night Countdown. NFL Insider Adam Schefter will appear on the aforementioned programs. In addition, Druley said football analyst Matt Millen will appear alongside Stuart Scott and analyst Steve Young on Monday Night Countdown.

“We don’t miss a game.” -and- “This will be our most comprehensive insider segment on television.” - Druley on Sunday NFL Countdown

Dilfer, who won the Super Bowl in 2001 with the Baltimore Ravens, gave his thoughts on key story lines of the upcoming MNF season and the nuances of the quarterback position. Dilfer said there are more quarterbacks in the NFL league that can handle the complexities of the game.

“When we start watching these [Monday Night] games, the hair still stands up on my arms because I don’t have any on my head.” - Dilfer

Jackson shared his thoughts on the story lines involving quarterbacks Michael Vick (Philadelphia Eagles) and Brett Favre (Minnesota Vikings). Jackson said Favre succeeding is the better story but he doesn’t believe Favre can do it.

“He eventually could be the greatest story of redemption that ever lived.” – Jackson on Vick

Additionally, Jackson shared his thoughts on NFL PrimeTime and his relationship with longtime ESPN commentator Chris Berman.

“I thought that the simplest, purest form of talking football was when Chris and I were doing PrimeTime.” – Jackson

Rothman discussed MNF’s new booth lineup, Frank Gifford — the thread through 40 years of MNF, and his role this season — and the focus on football during the telecast.

“We will deliver football to fans at an unbelievably high level.” - Rothman on MNF presentation.

Some questions from the room answered:

Q - What are your thoughts on expanding to a 17 or 18-game NFL schedule?

A -  Jackson: If you’re actually a player and preparing to take a punishment … I’m not in favor of adding more games to a 16-game schedule.

Q - Do you have a Plan B if Jon Gruden goes back to the NFL?

A -  Rothman: I’m not worried about Jon. Jon wants to be great at this and is loving the experience.  He’s fired up I’m not worried about him walking out the door. We’re just getting better each week.