CLEMSON — Like most everyone associated with Clemson football, the big news caught Willy Korn off guard.

Friday morning, Korn said, he was surfing the Internet with roommate and Clemson fullback Chad Diehl when the bulletin went up on a Clemson fan/recruiting site: Korn was the Tigers’ new starting quarterback, replacing senior and preseason ACC player of the year Cullen Harper.

“I thought there’d be no way,” Korn said. “That’s how things have gone since I’ve been here, they stay with the older guy, stay with the senior, don’t make a change. So I was completely surprised when I found out about it.”

Leaning on experience has been Tommy Bowden’s mode of operation, but with the Tigers 3-3 and his job potentially on the line heading into Saturday’s crucial ACC home matchup with Georgia Tech, Bowden decided the time was right to pull the trigger.

So following a rare Sunday night practice, Korn met a crush of reporters and TV cameras for the first time as the Tigers’ starting quarterback. Harper, who threw four touchdowns against six interceptions in six games and led the offense to one touchdown over Clemson’s last six quarters, didn’t speak with the media Sunday but is expected to do so Tuesday.

Now, Korn is the guy in the spotlight, tasked with using his mobility and passing skills to spark the offense and Clemson’s flagging 2008 season.

“It’s an incredible feeling, kind of a weird feeling,” the redshirt freshman said. “It’s been two years since I started a football game. But I’ve been preparing week-in and week-out, since I got here, like I was going to be the starter.

“It’s kind of different now that I know I’m going to play, going to start, whereas weeks before I was preparing as the starter but in the back of your head you don’t know if you’re going to play or not. So it’s a good feeling, knowing that all my hard work is going to show this week.”

He is the latest tweak — and by far the biggest — in Bowden and offensive coordinator Rob Spence’s ongoing quest for offensive consistency. Clemson has started five different offensive line combinations in six games, and wound up playing backups Jamarcus Grant and Bobby Hutchinson much of the game at guard after starters Mason Cloy and Cory Lambert left Thursday’s 12-7 loss to Wake Forest with leg injuries.

“We need a spark right now,” Bowden said. “(Korn) is more mobile, gives us more options.”

He was really the only option. Harper hasn’t necessarily played poorly, but the offensive doldrums and a beat-up line forced Bowden’s hand.

“We tried several different plans of attack offensively, tried to stay away from deeper throws, longer time in the pocket and we’ll continue to search and find answers,” Bowden said. “We need to be more productive, manage some offense, manage some points. (Georgia Tech will) be a very important game with time of possession as they’re an option team. We have to get production off our possessions.”

Sunday marked Korn’s first real experience with the first-team offense. Bowden said he had worked with the first team during some preseason scrimmages, as well as during “inside drill” (a run-oriented drill) and worked center-quarterback exchanges with starting center Thomas Austin in case of injury. Saturday will mark his first significant in-game snaps beyond mop-up duty.

Bowden said Korn’s status will be evaluated after the Georgia Tech game, and Harper could regain his job.

But for now, it is Korn’s team and his job to lose.

“I’m just excited about it,” he said. “Coach Bowden said he wanted a spark to the offense, and it gives me a lot of confidence that he has that faith in me to be the guy to spark the offense. Hopefully we can turn it around his week. I’m really confident going into this weekend.”