We don’t have to tell you that football season has arrived. We’re less than a week away from the start of the NFL regular season, so it’s prime time to launch our new Pigskin Pick’em contest.

This year, our contest will focus on NFL games. The game is simple: Register, submit your weekly picks, and be eligible for weekly or season-ending prizes. You can place your picks here at bakersfield.com (also, coming soon, to your phone via our mobile site,  661411.com). You can also sign up to receive weekly reminders to make your picks.

In addition to picking the weekly winners for each game, there’s a separate contest called the “Survivor Game.” Each week, you pick a team you think will win, players are eliminated if their choice loses. You can only pick a team once, so it’s a contest that will require a bit of planning.

Pigskin Pick’em is free to play, although if you consistently pick losers, your friends may make you pay with all kinds of grief. But we know YOU know what you’re doing. Jump in and give the game a try.

P.S. Here’s an Insider tip from your friends at BdotCOM: Green Bay is flying under the radar amid all the hullabaloo over Favre and Cutler in the NFC North.