ST. PAUL, Minn. -- It's on.

The rivalry between figure skaters Johnny Weir and Evan Lysacek lived up to its billing Friday night in the men's short program at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. The duo stood 1-2 entering Sunday's free skate, with Weir holding a small 1.35 advantage over the defending U.S. champion.

Last year's world junior champion, Stephen Carriere, was third.

Weir skated second overall Friday night and got the crowd on its feet. The three-time national champion, wearing a glittery black and white costume, was graceful -- although a bit deliberate -- in his skate to "Yunona i Avos." He opened his program with three clean jumping sequences, including a triple lutz-triple toe loop combination.

Weir, who finished third at last year's U.S. championships, said he wasn't motivated to compete at the 2007 event. But the 2006 Olympian was all smiles Friday, hugging and celebrating his total score of 83.40 with his coach while the crowd gave him a standing ovation.

"I was very nervous because there was a lot of pressure on me to come back. ... Last year was kind of a disaster for me, and my mojo was not there," said Weir. "I'm very pleased with how I did today."

With Weir's scores topping the early leaderboard, the attention turned to Lysacek.

"I hope Evan can skate well," Weir said just before Lysacek took the ice. "I hope he can get over the nerves of coming back and trying to repeat as national champion. I've had to deal with it before, and it's a hard thing to do. So I hope he makes it interesting and throws all his cards on the table and skates well."

The Illinois native struggled during warm-ups, falling on two jump attempts. But Lysacek fought through the early portion of his program and stayed on his feet through his opening three jumps, although he botched his lone jumping combination -- two-footing the landing on the quadruple toe and doubling the planned triple toe.

"I was just so frazzled," Lysacek said. "I don't know what it is. I didn't think I'd be like that. (But) it's probably the most prestigious title, except for Olympic gold, for us."

But once the jumps were out of the way, Lysacek came alive.

Skating to "Zorro," he demonstrated an energetic and intricate footwork sequence that showed the skater fighting across the ice.

When the music ended, Lysacek took a few moments to catch his breath and wipe the sweat from his forehead before saluting the crowd -- which had risen to its feet.

Lysacek scored a total of 82.05 to rank behind Weir.

"I'm very happy with that," he said. "The short program for me is always so stressful, so I'll take it."

But Friday was only the first part of the battle. The second and decisive bout will come Sunday in the free skate, where the national crown will be on the line.