SYRACUSE - If you didn't know what was going on behind the scenes at Syracuse, you'd never guess that head football coach Greg Robinson had just been fired.

“It's been the same as every week, people flying around to the ball,” senior tailback Curtis Brinkley said Wednesday night. “The only thing you can do is respect coach Robinson. He's running around still, coaching everybody up. You would never know that at the end of the season would be his last coaching here at Syracuse.

“I respect that and look up to him,” Brinkley said. “He's played a big part of my life outside football.”

Robinson was fired only hours after a 39-14 home loss Saturday night to Connecticut, which dropped his record to 9-36 and 3-25 in the Big East.

Told on Sunday morning by athletic director Daryl Gross that this was the end of the line after four awful seasons, Robinson has not lost his enthusiasm as his struggling Orange (2-8, 1-5 Big East) prepare for their final two games of the season - at Notre Dame on Saturday and the finale the following Saturday at 19th-ranked Cincinnati.

“Our results haven't been as good as they have to be, but I will say this, in every game I saw growth,” Robinson said. “What we need to do is just get back on track in all areas. I think there will be great focus.”

Gross has already begun the search for a successor.

Robinson, who had one year left on a contract that pays him $1.1 million annually, still wears a seemingly perpetual smile.

In his meeting with Gross, Robinson told Gross it was important to him to finish the season, and Gross agreed.

“I wanted to make sure under no uncertain terms he saw me as the head football coach until the season was concluded,” Robinson said. “I've seen it become chaotic. This will not be chaotic.”

So far, so good.

At least Robinson and his staff aren't in the same situation as Washington coach Tyrone Willingham. He was fired last month, also effective at season's end, with six games to play. At 0-10, his Huskies are the only winless team in the country and on the verge of producing the first winless season in school history.

Despite the lack of success, the players have stood by their deposed head coach.

“Greg Robinson is a great coach,” senior offensive guard Ryan Durand said. “It was a big transition period (when Robinson arrived in 2005), but honestly I don't think we got all the guys we needed to be successful in all the areas of the game. But we tried to make the best of what we had.”

Syracuse can match its 2006 record under Robinson with wins in the final two games, but the focus is on the Irish. It's a chance at redemption on national television.

“We're looking at this like a bowl game,” Brinkley said. “It's a big game for us. I'm looking forward to going there and putting up a big fight.”

Syracuse did not have any players selected in this year's NFL draft and there's no bowl game on the horizon, so most of the seniors are facing what most likely is the end of their football careers.

That's enough motivation for most.

“It's an opportunity to just play,” Durand said. “The seniors don't know how many more chances we're going to get.”

“Those guys have a lot of pride,” offensive coordinator Mitch Browning said. “They know they're capable of playing better. They've been extremely focused. At this point in the season for us, you throw the records away. Hopefully, we'll play well.”

AP-ES-11-20-08 1457EST