As college football’s early signing period grows closer, Washington State’s 2021 recruiting class continues to grow smaller.

What is it? Washington State (1-2) travels to the Wasatch Range, where it will close out the regular season at Utah (2-2).

A GRIP ON SPORTS • It is a year that calls for smart and nimble leadership at all levels. Which makes it a year in which the Pac-12 enters the sporting fray with one hand tied behind its back. Maybe even both.

It isn’t that the Cougars were agitated by the nicknames broadcasters and writers had bestowed on them the first four games of the season. They just didn’t want to be one-dimensional.

Washington State was 90 minutes shy of hosting a football game at Martin Stadium on Saturday. Now the Cougars won’t have another opportunity to play meaningful snaps in Pullman until the 2021 season.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • We wake up every morning ready to spend the day accentuating the positive. But some days, like Saturday, it’s hard to do. There is so little to find. But that doesn’t derail our quest. We just have to sort through the trash first to find the overlooked diamond bracelet.

And that's the ballgame. At least, it should be.

Star running back Max Borghi and 30 or 40 of his Washington State teammates were jogging, stretching and tossing footballs on the icy field at Martin Stadium approximately two hours before kickoff against California.

Max Borghi participated in pregame warmups for Washington State Saturday morning, indicating the running back is available to play for the Cougars in today's Pac-12 North game against California.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Sadly, there will not be a rivalry game in the state of Washington this year, not for WSU, not for UW. Such games are fun, even if your team has lost seven consecutive times. Though, fun may not be a word ever used again by Arizona fans when looking back at their rivalry game with ASU last night.

With two games remaining, one against California and the next against an opponent to be determined, we still have a chance at 5-0 in our weekly Washington State picks.

Washington State's game against Cal at Martin Stadium in Pullman has been called off due to coronavirus issues.

Just for the sake of clarity, Nick Rolovich was asked what he meant last Sunday when the Washington State coach, fresh off a 38-13 loss to USC in a game that saw the Cougars at one point trail 35-0, told a group of reporters "the problem is if USC beats us twice, that's what we can't let happen."

Renard Bell has taken quick to learning Nick Rolovich's run-and-shoot offense and through three games is the Pac-12's leader in multiple receiving categories.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • It’s still a few days until winter, officially, but it looks as if winter’s grip on the area is starting to lock in. There is snow in today’s forecast and cold, wet conditions for the next few days ahead. Just in time for Christmas. And for settling in front of the TV. If it were only that simple.

The ever-changing Pac-12 football landscape in 2020 did so again on Friday afternoon, when the conference announced the cancellation of Saturday's rivalry game between Washington and Oregon.

It's customary for the mailbag to fill up with a few more questions after a head-scratching loss than on the heels of a momentous win. That trend held true after Washington State's 38-13 defeat at USC on Sunday. 

A GRIP ON SPORTS • There was no way I was ever watching “Man on Wire.” Not just because I’m afraid of heights – deeply – but also because who wants to watch a person trying to stay upright while everyone below is scared to death they’re going to fall to certain doom? In unrelated news, Washington State men’s basketball.

Former Washington State associate head coach Jeff Hironaka, 63, is enjoying his modest, do-everything gig at Genesis Prep in Post Falls.