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Tehama Tracker Today's games NBA Minnesota Warriors Utah Kings 7:30 p.m. CSNB 7 p.m. CSNC Sunday's games NFL Raiders Cincinnati 49ers New Orleans 10 a.m. CBS 1:25 p.m. FOX Harbaugh expects QB Smith to be cleared SANTA CLARA (AP) — Jim Harbaugh expects Alex Smith to be medically cleared to play by Saturday. Still, the 49ers coach did not announce Friday who will start at quarter- back at New Orleans in two days. serves no purpose to his team and organiza- tion to let anybody know what his plan at quarterback is for Sunday's game against the Saints. Harbaugh says it Harbaugh also refutes reports earlier this week that he already has told Smith and Colin Kaepernick that Kaepernick will continue as the team's starter after making his first NFL start dur- ing Monday's rout of the Chicago Bears. The coach indicates his stance on the quar- terback situation is unlikely to change before the 49ers (7-2- 1) meet the Saints (5- 5) in a rematch of last year's NFC divisional playoff game won 36- 32 by San Francisco. ''We could set our watch here for another 15 minutes and you could keep asking questions and the answers will still be the same,'' Harbaugh said Friday. ''We feel like there's no com- petitive advantage for us to release that information. We just do not get into what the role's going to be, how we're going to use them, and the specifics of that. It's unorthodox. So be it. That's the way we are going to go about it.'' Smith had started 28 consecutive games for the 49ers before he suffered a concussion during the team's 24- 24 tie with St. Louis on Nov. 11. Smith practiced all of last week in a non-contact black jersey, but the team declared him out Monday morning for the Bears game later that evening after he was evaluated by team medical director Dr. Dan Garza. Kaepernick had an auspicious starting debut in place of Smith, passing for 243 yards and two touch- downs with a quarter- back rating of 133.1 to lead the 49ers to a 32- 7 victory. On the tube Saturday AUTO RACING • 8 a.m. SPEED — Formula One, qual- ifying for Grand Prix of Brazil, at Sao Paulo BOXING • 2 p.m. SHO — Welterweights, Ricky Hatton (45-2-0) vs. Vyacheslav Senchenko (32-1-0), at Manchester, England • 7 p.m. HBO — Junior middleweights, Keith Thurman (18-0-0) vs. Carlos Quintana (29-3-0); champion Roberto Guerrero (30-1-1) vs. Andre Berto (28- 1-0), for WBC interim welterweight title, at Ontario, Calif. Sports 49ERS | @New Orleans, 1:25 p.m. Sunday on FOX Playoff rematch has high stakes NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Malcolm Jenkins spent a good chunk of his offseason in front of a television, reviewing New Orleans' crushing loss to San Fran- cisco in last season's play- offs. The 36-32 thriller was a defeat he would never get over or be able to forget, so he figured he might as well learn from it. "I probably watched that game about four or five times, the entire game," the Saints safety said this week. "I just marked down the type of things I needed to improve on or us as a defense needed to improve on so that we don't make those mistakes again in the same situation." high-stakes rematch is set when the NFC West-lead- ing 49ers (7-2-1) visit the resurgent Saints (5-5), who are trying to prolong a cap- tivating rally back into play- off contention after an 0-4 start. Less than a year later, a "Everybody probably circled this game whenever they announced the sched- ule," Jenkins said. "It's going to be a big game for us. It's going to be a lot of emotion, but right now all we can do is make sure that we prepare mentally and not get too caught up in the hype." There is plenty of intrigue surrounding this game, including a potential quarterback quandary for 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh following the impressive first career start of Colin Kaepernick in the Niners' 32-7 demolition of the Chicago Bears last Monday night. With established starter Alex Smith still recovering from a concussion, Kaeper- nick demonstrated he could make all the throws needed to pick apart a respected Bears defense. Kaepernick is also an exceptional scrambler, as anyone who watched his highlight-filled college career at Nevada knows. So even if Smith is deemed ready to return in the Big Easy, Kaepernick could get the start. "In both guys we have quarterbacks that we're con- fident in, believe in, have won for us," Harbaugh said. "We have confidence in our guys. It's great for us that we're in that position." Smith had little doubt 1B Weekend Nov. 24-25, 2012 MCT file photo San Francisco's Aldon Smith tackles New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees in the playoffs last season. This time, there is more there would be an extra edge to this season's meet- ing with the Saints. "They're on a roll. They get a little chance at revenge," Smith said. "Everybody that watched that (playoff) game remem- bers it. And certainly us that took part in it — I know that. It was a physical game. It was back and forth, some talking going on out there on the field. I'm sure it's in the back of their heads. I'm sure they remember it and the chance to get us on their turf." RAIDERS | @Cincinnati, 10 a.m. Sunday on CBS Palmer heads back to old home So many things had to happen for Carson Palmer to get out of Cincinnati. Another team that was a midseason contender had to find itself suddenly needing a quarterback. Oakland's Jason Camp- bell broke his collarbone shortly before the trade deadline last season, set- ting a complex sequence in motion. have a high opinion of Palmer's ability coming off a 4-12 season in Cincinnati. Raiders coach Hue Jackson knew him as well as anyone, having scouted him in high school. Someone needed to CINCINNATI (AP) — kind of going to be the emphasis." MCT photo Raiders starting quarterback Carson Palmer throws against the Saints Sunday. The price had to be high. The Raiders satis- fied the requirement by offering a first-round pick and a conditional second- rounder, persuading stub- born Bengals owner Mike Brown to reconsider. One thing left. The Bengals had to be certain that rookie Andy Dalton — taken in the second round to replace Palmer — was up to it. final piece in the very dif- ficult fit. Dalton became the they had the confidence in me to do something like that," Dalton said. COLLEGE FOOTBALL • 9 a.m. ABC — National coverage, Michigan at Ohio State ESPN — Georgia Tech at Georgia ESPN2 — Rutgers at Pittsburgh FSN — UAB at UCF FX — Tulsa at SMU • 11:30 a.m. FOX — Baylor vs. Texas Tech, at Arlington, Texas • 12:30 p.m. ABC — Florida at Florida State CBS — National coverage, Auburn at Alabama ESPN — Oklahoma State at Okla- homa ESPN2 — Wisconsin at Penn State "It's great to show that Dalton is playing well again as the Bengals (5-5) brace for Palmer's first return to town since the trade. They've played their best games of the season back to back, giv- ing themselves a second chance to get into the playoff chase on Sunday. He threw for 20 touch- downs as a rookie, when the Bengals reached the playoffs with a 9-7 mark. He's already matched that total while completing a higher percentage of his throws. After 11 intercep- tions in the first eight games, he has none in the last two. FSN — Tulane at Houston NBC — FCS, Grambling vs. Southern, at New Orleans NBCSN — Air Force at Fresno State • 3:30 p.m. FOX — Oregon at Oregon State or Stanford at UCLA • 4 p.m. ESPN — South Carolina at Clemson ESPN2 — Missouri at Texas A&M • 5:07 p.m. NBC — National coverage, Notre Dame at Southern Cal • 7:30 p.m. ESPN2 — Louisiana Tech at San Jose State GOLF • Midnight TGC — European PGA Tour, DP World Tour Championship, "He's done a lot more this year than he had last year," offensive coordina- tor Jay Gruden said. "We're giving him a lot more options at the line of scrimmage to make those changes. In the plays we don't change, he's done a good job of executing and not forcing the ball into the coverage. "Early in the season, he had 11 picks early and hasn't thrown one in two games — knock on wood — and his decision mak- ing has been outstand- ing." By contrast, the Raiders (3-7) are all but final round, at Dubai, United Arab Emi- rates MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL • 4 p.m. NBCSN — Battle 4 Atlantis, third place game, teams TBD, at Par- adise Island, Bahamas • 6:30 p.m. NBCSN — Battle 4 Atlantis, championship game, teams TBD, at Paradise Island, Bahamas • 8 p.m. ESPN2 — Las Vegas Invita- tional, championship game, teams TBD NBA • 6 p.m. WGN — Chicago at Milwaukee Sunday AUTO RACING out of it despite Palmer's impressive season. He has thrown for 300 yards in each of the last three games, topping 3,000 yards for the season already. The problem is the Raiders have given up the most points in the NFL, forcing Palmer to throw a lot. "Teams have hit some big plays on them," Dal- ton said. "They have given up a lot of points. Our big thing is we've just got to come out and play our game. "So for us, when we get our chances, we've got to hit them. That's • 7:30 a.m. SPEED — Formula One, Grand Prix of Brazil, at Sao Paulo CFL FOOTBALL • 3 p.m. NBCSN — Playoffs, Grey Cup, Calgary vs. Toronto, at Toronto MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL • 4 p.m. ESPN2 — Old Spice Classic, championship game, teams TBD, at Orlando, Fla. • 6 p.m. ESPN2 — DirecTV Classic, championship game, teams TBD, at Anaheim, Calif. • 7 p.m. FSN — San Diego St. at Southern Cal NFL • 10 a.m. CBS — Regional coverage "He's playing great," Jackson said. "I think they have a really good player. I said that when he came to Oakland, and I still feel that way now." The Bengals used the Brown Stadium will be on Palmer, with the sub- plots abounding. The coach that wanted him so badly in Oakland last year wound up get- ting fired after an 8-8 fin- ish. Jackson was hired back by the Bengals as an assistant coach. This week, he's been part of the planning to stop Palmer. The focus at Paul at stake for the Saints than 49ers, who hold a 1 1/2- game lead in their division. New Orleans is virtually out of the divisional race because of Atlanta's 9-1 record, but by winning five of six games, the Saints have narrowly kept alive the dream of playing a Super Bowl in the Superdome in February. New Orleans entered this weekend a game behind three teams — Tampa Bay, Seattle and Minnesota — which are tied for the final NFC wild- card playoff spot. With six games remain- ing, it's plausible New Orleans will overcome the bounty scandal and a poor start to the regular season and wind up in its fourth straight postseason. But doing so could become less realistic if the Saints cannot extend their current winning streak to four with a victory over San Francisco. In some aspects, the game has the makings of a mismatch in the Niners' favor, starting with San Francisco's No. 1 running game (165.3 yards per game) against New Orleans' league-worst run defense (157.8 yards allowed per game). first-round pick from Oakland, 17th overall, to get cornerback Dre Kirk- patrick. He missed all of preseason and the first seven games with a knee injury, but has been get- ting a lot more plays in the secondary the last two games. Palmer will be lining up against the player the Bengals got in exchange for him. "I don't know anything about him," Kirkpatrick said. "I never met him. From what I hear, he's a good guy. I'm just going to go out there and just try to do whatever I can to help my team win." FOX — Regional coverage, double- header • 1 p.m. CBS — Regional coverage • 1:25 p.m. FOX — Regional coverage, doubleheader game • 5:20 p.m. NBC — Green Bay at N.Y. Giants SOCCER • 5:15 a.m. ESPN2 — Premier League, Liverpool at Swansea Monday NBA • 4 p.m. TNT — New York at Brooklyn NFL • 5:30 p.m. ESPN — Carolina at Philadelphia