Ohio State quarterbacks coach Joe Daniels is part of a coaching staff preparing to take on the University of Florida in the NCAA Football National Championship in Glendale, Arizona next week. It's a big game, with big stakes -- but it's just one match-up Daniels plans to tackle this year. He's also in the midst of a game with cancer -- a game he plans to win.

Daniels, a 64-year-old assistant to head coach Jim Tressel and contender for the Broyles Award, given January 16 to the nation's top assistant coach, was diagnosed with kidney cancer this past year shortly after suffering a heart attack and while mourning the death of his mother. Although it was a tough year, he still managed to make it through his 37th season as an assistant coach. He and his wife, Kathy, say it's been a hard road but a blessed one too.

"Cancer is a terrible disease," says Kathy. "But in a lot of ways, it's enriched our lives. It's not the burden a lot of people expect it to be. Maybe it's because we've been so fortunate to have football as a distraction."

The Buckeyes' 12-0 season -- complete with a Heisman Trophy victory for quarterback Troy Smith -- was quite a distraction for Daniels who was able to avoid chemotherapy and radiation and is faithfully taking a drug called Sutent to treat his malignant tumor. He takes a pill for 28 days, then takes 14 days off, and then begins again.

Medically, everything seems to be working out just fine for Daniels. His monthly check-ups continue to deliver good news, and he reports he has felt good, with just a bit of fatigue, for the entire season.

Now about that other game. Tune into the FOX network on Monday, January 8 at 8:15 PM -- and watch it all unfold.