The Cougars just have one more day of practice before they'll fly down to the Bay Area for a matchup with Stanford. That's always a tough, physical game and the players and coaches are getting ready for a fight.

"I like these kind of games," said defensive line coach Joe Salave'a. It's like back in the playing days, Pittsburgh weekend or NFC East matchup with Philly when I was a Redskin. It's a throwback type of mentality and we've got to make sure our guys are ready for those."

After practice Mike Leach clarified the role of new assistant Eric Mele who is taking over for the recently dismissed Eric Russell, saying that he is considered the interim special teams coach.

He also gave his own thoughts on special teams. Unlike some coaches Leach plays a number of starters on special teams.

"I've really never had (a player) that ever went on and played past college that didn't embrace (special teams) because it's part of the game," Leach said. "If you're a good player you're a competitive guy. The best players I've had campaigned to be on special teams …  If you're the right kind of player you want to be out there. If you look at a 53-man roster, they're all playing special teams. If you don't want to play special teams you're playing in the wrong place."

More on today's practice after the jump.

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Practice started out with punter Jordan Dascalo attempting four field goals, making the first three and then missing the final one. It looked like he was kicking with the scout team against the first string so I don't expect this means Dascalo is going to be the new kicker, although he seems to think he's suited for the job.

Rickey Galvin was limited during today's practice but Sulaiman Hameed was back with the defense after missing Saturday's game. Dom Williams is also no longer limited, although he did appear to be held out of a few drills. I did not see Kristoff Williams at practice.

Daquawn Brown ran with the ones at cornerback and the twos at safety again. The starting safeties were Hameed and Darius Lemora with Brown and Taylor Taliulu as backups. The backup cornerbacks were Pat Porter and Marcellus Pippins.

Destiny Vaeao no longer appears to be limited but Darryl Paulo still ran with the ones during practice, evidently taking back the spot he took over when Vaeao missed the Oregon game. Paulo started against Oregon and Utah but Vaeao started last weekend against Cal.

Peyton Pelluer continues to get reps at Mike linebacker and appears to be impressing the coaches. Darryl Monroe did briefly leave the Cal game with an apparent injury, but returned and didn’t show any lasting effects during practice.

On the offensive side of the field Connor Halliday was slinging the ball all over the field, clearly buoyed from talking to the media earlier in the day (we'll have more from Halliday in the days ahead). River Cracraft and Calvin Green weren't necessarily his favorite receivers on the day, but they appeared to have the most success, running hard and making defenders miss.

After practice the defensive coaches talked for awhile about the challenge Stanford presents and how the WSU front seven can combat the always-formidable Cardinal offensive line.

"They use more personnel groups (than other teams we've played)," said linebackers coach Ken Wilson of the Stanford offense. "They do a lot of formations, they use a lot of different body types on the football field. The quarterback's really good, they bring five-deep at running back. Their wide receiver, kick returner is probably the best in the country so they give you a lot of challenges."

"I think our kids our resilient," Salave'a said. "They had a slow start in the beginning of the year but these last few weeks our kids are starting to go back to themselves and their personality and it's got to resonate from us as well, as coaches and we've got to reinforce. Positive reinforcement always goes a long ways but the biggest thing is our kids have to understand the type of football that Stanford plays and the rest of the Pac-12."

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