Are They Ready?

Many Coug faithful have been quietly circling this Friday's game with USC as a potential season-defining moment. The Cougs are 4-0 for the first time in well over a decade.

The games have already been exciting. The first game was against Montana State and the defense shined as the Cougs outlasted a feisty team and got the shutout to win, 31-0. From the stands, the game really seemed closer than it was as the team worked out first game quirks.

The next week, the Cougs looked like they were going to blow all the preseason talk about how this could be Couch Mike Leach's best team ever assembled at WSU. The visiting Boise State Broncos stormed to a decisive lead. Some of the Coug faithful began to leave when the score was 31-10 with 10:53 left to go in the fourth quarter. But the Cougs forced overtime and won, 47-44.

The next week as Oregon State came to town and their large running back looked quite scary in the first half, the crowd of alumni stuck around through the fourth quarter. (The student section was empty by halftime.) The Cougs defense gave up 23 points, but the offense rolled up 52 for the rout. It was a heck of a game following the roller coaster the week before and the long line of traffic leaving seemed rather polite as Highway 26 glowed for an hour and a half.

The talk walking out of the stadium was all about USC, not about Nevada.

The Cougs took care of Nevada anyway.

And here we are. No. 5 USC coming to a sold-out Martin Stadium to see a No. 16 Washington State Cougar team on the verge of the biggest game of the Mike Leach era.

And they only get bigger from here if they win. The next two games are a road trip made from hell with visits to Eugene and Cal.

Mike Leach has been here before, on the big stage of college football.

Get ready, Coug fans. It's about to get fun.

TOUCHDOWN Washington State! Pippins with a 6-yd sack & forced fumble, Luvu with the 40-yd TD! #SpeedD #GoCougs pic.twitter.com/LehtVVRyW6
— WSU Cougar Football (@wsucougfb) September 17, 2017

Hendo and many of the KATS crew have been making the long drive to Pullman during the Cougs' 4-0 run...

Go, Cougs!