Mexico City will be roaring. Matt Millen will be officiating. The Rams and Vikings will be hearing better. Courtney and LaVar will be meeting. "Paul Brown" will open. And Dan Marino will be honored.

Those are among the scenarios that will take place this Friday through Monday night (and into next Wednesday) as the NFL plays the third full week of its 2000 preseason.

The highlight of the week comes on Saturday night (CBS-TV, 8:00 PM ET) when perhaps the most enthusiastic NFL fans anywhere – certainly among those outside the continental United States – flock to Azteca Stadium in Mexico City to witness an American Bowl between the Indianapolis Colts and Pittsburgh Steelers.

Enthusiastic? Three of the top four largest crowds ever for an NFL game – pre-, regular-season or postseason – have gathered in Mexico City:

The fact that the Mexican-favorite Dallas Cowboys played in the two best-attended NFL games ever has not been lost upon one of the participants in Saturday night’s American Bowl.

"We wear the ‘blue-and-white’ also," says Indianapolis defensive end CHAD BRATZKE, hoping for a pro-Colts crowd.

Pittsburgh running back JEROME BETTIS doesn’t think color schemes will matter. Conservatively, Jerome hopes that "70,000 to 80,000 fans will be Steelers fans."

Hear! Hear! – For the second time this preseason, two "domed" teams – the Minnesota Vikings and St. Louis Rams, and their opponents for the week -- will conduct an experiment aimed at reducing the effect of crowd noise on offenses.

On Friday night, the Vikings host the Arizona Cardinals at the Metrodome (ESPN, 8:35 PM ET). On Saturday, the Rams welcome the Buffalo Bills to the Trans World Dome. In each game, the five offensive linemen on each team will wear "noise exterminators" in their ears that enable them to hear their quarterback’s signals more clearly.

The battery-operated device, made by Nu-Ear Electronics of San Diego, California, measures three-quarters of an inch long and is custom-made to fit the ear canal of each player. A computerized microphone and high-tech amplifier is housed in each unit.

Noise levels can reach 110-115 decibels at some NFL games. "Crowd noise is low-frequency sound, and speech communication is usually high-frequency sound," says ROY TEMPLET of a Louisiana company that is coordinating the project. "These aids suppress low-frequency sound and background noise when it reaches a certain level."

Bragging-Rights Battle – Friday night, the only two teams to share an NFL stadium – the New York Giants and Jets – meet at the Meadowlands in New Jersey for their annual mid-summer "Battle for Bragging Rights." "Anytime you have a Giants-Jets game, the electricity is built up," says Jets wide receiver WAYNE CHREBET. "We all know each other."

This year, for only the 11th time in the 31-year history of the preseason series between the teams, the game will be played on natural grass. A permanent grass surface has been installed at Giants Stadium this year. By 2002, 23 NFL teams (including expansion Houston) will play on grass.

"Go grass," says Jets linebacker MO LEWIS. The Jets-Giants preseason series was played on grass from 1969-75 in New Haven, Connecticut; in 1976 in Yankee Stadium; and on a temporary grass field at Giants Stadium from 1998-99.

Bengals Debut Paul Brown Stadium – The newest of 22 NFL stadiums that have been/will be built or renovated since 1992 will open its doors Saturday night when the Cincinnati Bengals play the Chicago Bears at 65,600-seat PAUL BROWN STADIUM on the Cincinnati riverfront.

Named for the Pro Football Hall of Fame founder of the Bengals and Cleveland Browns, Paul Brown has a natural grass surface, two 27 X 90-foot electronic scoreboards, two "signature" giant brown canopies in its upper deck shaped like boomerangs, and swirling designs of black, chocolate, cinnamon and mango resembling Bengal tiger stripes on its plaza level that give fans an eye-catching view as they enter the stadium.

The first football action at Paul Brown will actually take place on Thursday as the Bengals stage an alumni flag football game at the stadium. Such former Bengals stars as JIM BREECH, LOUIS BREEDEN, ISAAC CURTIS, BOB JOHNSON, TIM MC GEE, MAX MONTOYA and ANTHONY MUNOZ will once again perform in front of Cincinnati fans.

"We wanted to give our former players the opportunity to be the first to play a game on the field," says Bengals President MIKE BROWN.

Courtney Meets LaVar – Also on Saturday night, the Washington Redskins will travel to Cleveland to face the Browns. Which means that it will be the lone meeting of the year of the first two overall draft choices of 2000 – Penn Staters COURTNEY BROWN, Cleveland defensive end, No. 1, and Washington linebacker LA VAR ARRINGTON, No. 2.

The two are only the third set of players from the same school to be selected first and second overall in the history of the NFL Draft (1967, Michigan State: DT BUBBA SMITH by Baltimore and RB CLINT JONES by Minnesota; and 1984, Nebraska: WR IRVING FRYAR by New England and G DEAN STEINKUHLER by Houston).

Millen To Umpire – He’s back with the linebackers! Twelve-year NFL linebacker and present FOX-TV analyst MATT MILLEN will undertake a unique on-field assignment Sunday afternoon when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers visit the New England Patriots on FOX at 4:00 PM ET.

Millen, 42, will officiate as an umpire in the third quarter – positioned in the middle of the field about five yards behind the defensive line – wearing on the bill of his cap the postage-stamp-sized "Umpire-Cam" TV camera that is being tested this summer in NFL national TV games. The camera – which gives viewers a players-eye view of game action -- made its debut in the NFL Europe League’s World Bowl championship game on June 25.

Millen, who will also be equipped with a microphone, attended the NFL Officials Clinic in Dallas in July to learn the intricacies of the umpire’s position. "He really worked hard and may have developed another career for himself if he ever decides to leave the TV booth," says NFL Senior Director of Officiating JERRY SEEMAN.

Millen umpired at four NFL training camps this summer in preparation for his assignment. "It was a lot of fun," he says. "I think ‘Umpire-Cam’ will enhance the game because it’s a perspective we haven’t had, especially the interior line play."

Monday Night in Miami…Followed by Wednesday Night For Marino – The stage on which a recently-retired legend performed so well, Monday Night Football, will set the stage this week for a city’s salute to that player.

On Monday night (ABC-TV, 8:00 PM ET), the Miami Dolphins will host the Green Bay Packers at Pro Player Stadium. Two nights later on the same field, the player who threw the most touchdown passes in Monday-night history (74), former Dolphins quarterback DAN MARINO, will be saluted by the fans of Miami.

And the place is sold out! All 50,000 tickets available for the stadium that will be reconfigured into a "concert" formation sold out in less than a week. Fans will receive a commemorative Marino poster before watching former Dolphins head coach DON SHULA and former NFL quarterbacks JOHN ELWAY and JIM KELLY (who entered the league with Marino in 1983) honor the NFL’s all-time passing-yardage and TD-pass leader. Fans also will be treated to a specially-prepared retrospective on Marino’s career by NFL Films…a Hootie and the Blowsfish concert…and a concluding fireworks special.

"I think it will be a pretty emotional night for him," says Dolphins wide receiver TONY MARTIN. "He’s a tough guy. I’ve never seen him cry. But this might bring it out of him. I think for once, you might see him cry."

GAME MARKS 36TH AMERICAN BOWL in series which began in London in 1986……Three of 4 largest crowds in NFL history have come in Mexico City……COLTS: Club plays in first-ever American Bowl……Head coach JIM MORA led Colts to 13-3 record in ’99 after 3-13 season in ’98 – an NFL-record 10-game improvement. Mora represented NFL in 2 American Bowls while coach of New Orleans (London, 1990; Tokyo, 1993)……Team returns 21 of 22 starters from 1999 AFC East championship season……1999 Colts were first team since AFC-NFC format in 1970 to have conference leader in passing, rushing & receiving yards……QB PEYTON MANNING’s 7,874 career passing yards are most by any QB in first 2 NFL seasons……RB EDGERRIN JAMES was first rookie since 1983 (ERIC DICKERSON) to lead NFL in rushing……DE CHAD BRATZKE had 5 games with at least 2 sacks in ’99 – tied for second-best in NFL……K MIKE VANDERJAGT has hit 26 FGs in row……STEELERS: Club makes fifth American Bowl appearance, first in Mexico (Montreal, 1990; Barcelona, 1993; Tokyo, 1996; Dublin, 1997). Only 3 NFL teams have played in more (Dallas, 8; Denver & San Francisco, 7)……Head coach BILL COWHER enters ninth season with Pittsburgh – tied for longest tenure in NFL (Dennis Green, Vikings)……RB JEROME BETTIS has rushed for 1,000 yards in each of his 4 seasons with Steelers……Offense features No. 1 picks at WR in each of past 2 years – TROY EDWARDS, 1999 & PLAXICO BURRESS, 2000……Pass defense (182.9) ranked third in AFC in ’99.