Spokesman Review: Cougs need better effort against Cal

PULLMAN – The Cougars passed a major test last week at Oregon State by surviving a less-than-stellar effort to come away with a narrow, 13-6 road win. That victory pushed Washington State's record to 4-2 after the first half of the football season. Now for the bad news – the same effort today will almost assuredly have the Cougars going to bed tonight at 4-3. "Thirteen points doesn't usually cut it in a Pac-10 game in general," quarterback Alex Brink said. "We need to execute better and be more consistent, and increase our output." That's especially true because the 5-1, 10th-ranked California Golden Bears are in town today, playing as well, if not better, than any other team in the conference.

A week ago, these same Bears dominated an undefeated Oregon team that some were starting to tab as a potential conference champion. Now they visit Martin Stadium, a place where they haven't won since 1979, with momentum on their side. "I'm pleased by the way we've been playing as a total team," Cal coach Jeff Tedford said. "(But) we understand that Washington State's a great team. … This is no week to take anybody lightly."  While Cal guards against a letdown this week, the Cougars realize that this game is their golden opportunity to make a splash on the national scene. Although no television station is picking up today's 2 p.m. contest, the Cougars would prove a lot by beating a ranked team that is playing well. WSU's two losses this season have been against ranked teams — then-No. 4 Auburn and No. 3 USC — and all four of its wins have come against unranked foes. The Cougars haven't defeated a ranked team since 2003, but before last week they hadn't won a game in October since that year, either.

Head coach Bill Doba said it's time his team stops worrying about how pretty a game is and starts focusing on putting up wins. "You almost felt like you lost coming off that field at Oregon State and yet we felt good coming off the field against Southern Cal," Doba said. "And I said, you know, we lost that game. That's not a good thing to have. That's not the way to be. We need to change that attitude. At the end of the season, let's say we have eight wins. They're not going to say, 'Oh no, no, no, you only have seven because you didn't play well against Oregon State.' Or, 'You get nine because you played well against USC.' They're not going to say that. They're going to say, 'How many wins?' "  There's no doubting a win today would have people thinking the answer to that question is going to be higher than most anyone would have expected.