BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) -Another huge game, another moment of silence for Michigan.

It's no stretch to think that Gerald Ford and Bo Schembechler, the former Wolverines all-star and coach, might have been together at the Rose Bowl next week to watch their team play had they been alive and healthy.

Instead, they are both gone, and this tradition-filled school is mourning another big loss as it heads into Monday's game against Southern California, the second straight game that has been preceded by the death of a Wolverine great.

Schembechler died on Nov. 17, the day before then-No. 2 Michigan played No. 1 Ohio State.

``We've lost two of our greatest icons,'' former Wolverines running back Jamie Morris said Thursday, as Michigan ramped up its preparations. ``It's tough. Michigan football is known by those two. Who is going to carry that flag for the program?''

Ford was an All-Star center for the Wolverines from 1932-34, decades before Schembechler began putting his stamp on the program. The Wolverines went undefeated in Ford's first two seasons, but in his senior year, they fell to 1-7.

Ford was named the most valuable player on the '34 team, and the fact that he turned down the NFL to go to law school didn't seem as wildly implausible then as it would be today.

He was offered $3,000 to play for the Detroit Lions or Green Bay Packers - good money for then, but not equivalent, even in 1930s dollars, to the multiple millions they make today.

Instead, Ford earned his law degree at Yale, where he served as an assistant football coach, and went on to a life in politics. In 1974, he became the 38th president, the country's designated healer in the aftermath of Watergate and Vietnam.

In a media guide largely devoted to Michigan's storied tradition, Ford essentially has a page of his own: Three varsity letters. Most Valuable Player. Yale law degree. Sworn into Congress in '49. Minority leader in '65. President in '74. Number retired in '94.

And now, the final chapter.

Ford's casket will arrive at a church in Palm Desert on Friday, and the weeklong funeral procession will begin about a two-hour drive from where the Wolverines will practice.

Flags across America will be at half-staff for 30 days, including, of course, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, where both Ford and Schembechler will be commemorated before kickoff.

The irony of the timing of their deaths - coming so close together, and both in the lead up to huge games for the Wolverines - isn't lost on coach Lloyd Carr, who may now be the most recognizable, living face of Michigan football.

``The word that comes to my mind is `integrity,''' Carr said. ``Bo ran a program that was beyond reproach. I can remember the firestorm that the Nixon pardon created, and in my mind, that probably cost (Ford) the election. But a large majority of historians argue impressively that it was the right decision for the country.''

To some, it may seem trite to compare leading a football program with leading a country.

Ford almost certainly wouldn't have minded.

Those bumbling caricatures aside, he may have been the best jock to ever occupy the White House. He said having his number retired was as meaningful to him, on a personal level, as being sworn in as president. And he was loyal to his alma mater to the end, forging a close relationship with Schembechler and visiting the football offices whenever he came to Ann Arbor.

One of Carr's favorite stories was about a pep talk Ford delivered in the lead up to the 1997 game against Ohio State. The Wolverines were 10-0 and ranked No. 1, en route to what would be the program's second national championship. Carr was doing everything he could to tamp down the pregame tension.

Ford addressed the team during practice on that cold, November day.

``He said, `I've watched and followed you closely all year. I watched the Notre Dame game. I saw that great, comeback win against Iowa. I watched the Penn State game. But I'm going to tell you something: Saturday, you're going to play in the most important game in the history of Michigan football,''' Carr said. ``And I thought to myself, 'Well, so much for trying to take the pressure off the guys.'''

For the players themselves, Ford's death won't have the same dramatic impact as did Schembechler's.

The former coach had an office in the football complex - aptly named Schembechler Hall - and players saw him quite often. That, plus the timing of his death - a day before the biggest game of the season - was widely viewed as a sad distraction before the 42-39 loss to Ohio State that ultimately landed the Wolverines (11-1) in the Rose Bowl instead of the national title game.

``History has never been my biggest subject,'' cornerback Leon Hall said when asked what the name `Gerald Ford' meant to him. ``He was a famous alum. Bo was the coach and we saw him every day.''

Despite that, there's no denying the past six weeks have been sad for Michigan football.

``They were both great leaders because they were unselfish guys,'' Carr said. ``They took great pride in trying to do things in a manner that would bring great pride to the people they represented.''

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AP Sports Writer Larry Lage contributed to this report.

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