Everyone at WSU could probably use a bye

COUGARS • UPDATE: 10:20 A.M.

Think about this. When Washington State’s football schedule was first revealed last season, this was the bye week. Yep, after nine consecutive weeks, the Cougars were going to get one off. But the Pac-10 needed to make some adjustments to the schedule. The easiest decision was to move the WSU game with California to this week. Some discussion, some money and bingo, the Cougars are playing 11 consecutive weeks. For more WSU football news, read on.
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• Washington State: We had our notes from last night’s practice which, sad to say, seem to be filled with injury information. Sometimes it’s hard to remember but these aren’t football players, they are young men who happen to play football. Yes, injuries are part of a violent game, but it’s not a nice part. … We also had our Pac-10 notebook for the week. …Finally, if you want to watch Paul Wulff’s teleconference from Tuesday, you can here . … Wait, one last thing. Don’t forget, WSU sort of opens the 2010-11 basketball season this Friday. The Cougars will play Lewis-Clark State College in a non-counting exhibition game starting at 6 p.m. in Beasley. Admission is free. • UPDATE: The WSU Football Blog has its summary of Paul Wulff’s Tuesday night radio show.

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• Around the Pac-10: The Times’ Bud Withers takes a spin around the conference. … ESPN.com’s Ted Miller points out both UCLA and USC are down this season. … Jon Wilner rates the conference. … Washington: The question is, how do the Huskies stop Oregon’s offense? The answer is, they don’t . The only idea is to try to limit it, keep it off the field if you can and outscore the Ducks. … Oregon State: James Rodgers made a visit to practice. Too bad he can’t play against UCLA . … Oregon: Usually the UW game is the second-most-important game of the year (and some seasons in the not-so-distant past was No. 1). Not this time . … Cal: Actually, Kevin Riley’s knee injury isn’t all that bad . But he also has a terrible muscle tear. … Stanford: The matchup with UA features two teams that have turned a corner on the road to respectability. … USC: Remember all those Heisman trophies won by Trojan running backs? That’s not the state of the USC running game right now. … UCLA: Due to injuries, the Bruins are down to their third-string middle linebacker. … Arizona State: If I could I would give you the written equivalent of USC’s fight song for the link to this story , but I can’t. The closest thing I can think of is linking you to the non-stop election coverage on CNN.com, but that would just be cruel. … Arizona: When a quarterback goes down with an injury, sometimes his favorite receiver just disappears.

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• That’s all for this morning. We’ll be back after practice this afternoon. Until then …