Will WSU roast in Texas heat?

COUGARS

It’s warm and humid in Dallas, which must do something for the beef, because the steak I had last night was tasty. Really wanted barbecue though, but the place recommended to me by a local closed at 8 freakin p.m. 8? What is this, Whoville? I thought Dallas was a big city. OK, enough whining, on to our morning post. Read on.
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• Washington State: We’ll start with our story on what the WSU defense has to do to stop SMU’s run and shoot – or at least contain it – and our notes from last night. … Then we move on to a couple of previews of the game, one from Cougfan , the other from CougCenter . … This came up later, but here is freelancer Howie Stalwick’s piece on Chima Nwachukwu.

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• Around the Pac-10: As he does every Friday, ESPN.com’s Ted Miller opens the mailbag . … He also debates the Big Ten vs. Pac-10 games this weekend. Why don’t they debate whether 10 should be ten or 10? … Bud Withers has a look at all the FCS upsets this year. … Jon Wilner tries to get back on the winning track with his Pac-10 picks . He calls it Big Saturday. … Washington: The Nebraska defense is stout . … At home, the Huskers’ crowd is all red. But in Seattle, it will be mainly purple . … This rivalry was pretty good in the 1990s. … Oregon State: The flu bug hits the Beavers. … Oregon: NCAA grants freshman Troy Hill a waiver so he’s good to go. … So is the PSU pistol offense. … Cal: The inventor of the pistol, Chris Ault, has it ready to go for Nevada tonight. … Stanford: The defense is getting better and there’s one big reason why. … USC: Ronald Johnson does not regret staying with the Trojans. … UCLA: The Bruins’ offensive line is supposedly a bright spot. After watching the Stanford game, I’m not so sure. Arizona State: The Badgers will give Arizona State’s defense its biggest test, literally. … Craig James basically calls the Sun Devils’ excessive penalties stupid and yes, we refrained from any woodshed references. … Arizona: The Wildcats can match their biggin’ against anyone’s biggin’.

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• That’s all for this morning. We’ll be back later in the day with our story and items for tomorrow’s paper. Until then …