Grip on Sports: Friday’s bright lights will be shining on Pullman

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Where were we? Oh ya, getting ready for one of the biggest weeks in college football around these parts in a while. Read on.

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• It’s been a while since a top five school not wearing purple has come to the Palouse, so Friday night’s matchup with USC – the fifth of five home games to open the season – has all the earmarks of one of Washington State’s biggest chances.

Chances for what?

National recognition. Heck, ESPN is in town. Two top 16 teams meet. Undefeated seasons are on the line.

Yep, it has all the makings of a classic.

There is one little problem. A minor one, really, but a predicament nonetheless. It’s the day. Or night, to be more precise.

Friday night lights are synonymous with high school football.

There was a movie about it. A TV show. A book started it all. Except it didn’t. It’s been part of the American sports landscape since the end of World War II. Earlier probably.

For years it was sacrosanct.

High schools had Friday nights, colleges had all day Saturday and the NFL took Sundays.

Then came Monday Night Football. The NFL began to creep.

So did the colleges, when ESPN came a calling, looking for programing on Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday nights.

But Friday nights? That was for high schools.

Until it wasn’t. In 2004, ESPN made it a regular thing, televising games on that night, even giving it a name, College Football Friday Primetime.

That made it official.

There has been backlash, of course. When the Big Ten decided to capitulate this year and play some games on Fridays, an Iowa legislator led an unsuccessful attempt to ban games on that night in his state. No word whether he was also a high school coach.

But Michigan, Penn State and Northwestern begged off, with the Wildcats even getting their two scheduled games moved to Saturday. Who said college coaches aren’t smart? Who wants to get high schools, your lifeblood for recruiting, ticked at you?

No such luck in Pullman. So the best opportunity for ESPN’s College GameDay to come to Pullman, maybe ever, was lost.

(OK, maybe it wasn’t. College GameDay is in Blacksburg, Virginia, where No. 13 Virginia Tech is hosting No. 2 Clemson. That game probably would have trumped a 16-versus-5 matchup.)

No matter. The Cougars still have an opportunity for one of the greatest wins ever – and a chance to remain undefeated. At 5-0, with a win over a top-five program, the top 10 awaits. As does a full weekend to celebrate, recuperate and revel in it.

Of course, that last sentence was aimed at their fans. The football team will be back at work. After the more-than-a-month homestand, the road beckons. In two weeks, there is another Friday night game. In Berkeley.

That traffic will be nice.

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WSU: With a tight window before Friday’s game, Theo Lawson is also cramming stories in, so not only can we pass along his piece on Mike Leach’s press conference, there is the first look at USC, news out of Los Angeles about injuries – though star running back Ronald Jones is back, former WSU commit receiver Deontay Burnett (pictured) may be out – and some news on next week’s kickoff time. … Sam Darnold has more interceptions than his coach would like. … Everyone was asked about the NFL’s anthem protests. At least it seems that way.

Elsewhere in the Pac-12, the conference not only suffers from being on the West Coast, but from a lack of atmosphere as well. … There are always power rankings and looks back at the weekend that was. … Washington, which faces Oregon State this week, will be without receiver Chico McClatcher the rest of the season. … Oregon and California meet this week in what really is a bit of a family battle. … Colorado and UCLA both need to win this week. … Stanford hosts an Arizona State team coming off an upset of Oregon. … Utah has a bye, which is a good thing considering the quarterback situation. … Arizona, which isn’t playing this week, is still struggling with the Friday loss to Utah.

EWU: Before the season began, Sacramento State seemed like a good time for Eastern to take a breath. Not now. Jim Allen has a story on the Hornets’ revival this season. … The loss to Eastern has Montana wondering what went wrong in the second half. … Around the Big Sky, it’s already been a weird year in the conference. And we’re only a week in, really. … Northern Arizona was winless in nonconference. Now it is 1-0 in the Big Sky. … Montana State seems to have its offense figured out. At least it did against beat-up North Dakota. … Weber State is getting some well-deserved national respect. … Southern Utah had been, then it got blown out in Sacramento. … Idaho State can’t feel too bad after losing on a lest-second field goal at Northern Colorado.

Preps: Central Valley’s boys took third in a prestigious cross country meet over the weekend. … There are a couple of prep stories out of the Puget Sound, where the WIAA lifted Bellevue’s postseason football ban, but took its titles, and another about basketball recruiting.

Mariners: The M’s are playing out the string, which means they will start playing well, right? They won 7-1 last night in Oakland as Felix Hernandez pitched well in an extended spring training – for next season. … There were more problems for the Mariners than just injuries. We had a column on other ones in Monday’s paper.

Seahawks: The defense was run over. The offense didn’t run enough. That was the story from Sunday’s loss at Tennessee, not the anthem brouhaha.

Sounders: It was mandatory, it seems, to ask about this.

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• Sorry about missing a day. Believe me, I would rather have been sitting in my chair writing. We’re back now and will be here all week. Don’t forget to tip your waiters. Until later …