Hot Cougar Action: Abdullah brothers on 'Outside the Lines'

If you've been following CougCenter closely in the past few months, you may have heard a mention or two of Hamza and Husain Abdullah.

The brothers decided to turn down opportunities to play in the NFL this season to make a pilgrimage to Mecca. They recently went on a cross country tour around the country as they prepare for the trip later this month. Tuesday, they were featured on ESPN's "Outside the Lines."

In addition to the interesting story, there are also several WSU hat sightings.

Football

Washington State Takes On No. 14 Oregon State Saturday - The Washington State University Official Athletic Site
WASHINGTON STATE FACES OREGON STATE SATURDAY IN CORVALLIS: Washington State University will head to Corvallis, Ore for a Pac-12 Conference matchup with Oregon State University, 3 p.m. Saturday on Pac-12 Networks.

Pac-12 football coaches follow the script - Spokesman.com - Oct. 3, 2012
To hear Washington State coach Mike Leach tell it, the word "script" is probably too simplistic to describe the series of offensive plays plotted out by some football coaches prior to each game.

Breske talks OSU after practice - SportsLink - Spokesman.com - Oct. 2, 2012
Admittedly, the highlight of Tuesday's practice wasn't actually Tuesday's practice. It was Mike Leach talking for 10 minutes afterward about renowned artist Jackson Pollock — a fellow native of Cody, Wyo. — and his impact on abstract expressionism in the United States. It really was enlightening. But for now, we'll stick to football. Read on.

Leach V. Holgorsen, Week 5: A Tale of Two Seasons - Football Study Hall
On the other side of the country, Washington State showed everyone that the Cougars are exactly who we thought they were. In typical Mike Leech-fashion, the Cougars finished the 51-26 loss to Oregon with 410 passing yards and minus-8 rushing yards (including sack yardage). While the sack yardage can manipulate the rushing numbers a bit, consider Washington State running backs received just 13 carries compared to 72 drop-back attempts by the Cougars’ offense. After five games, the Washington State running game is ranked 123rd in the nation.

Pac-12 ratings: Other quarterbacks outplaying Matt Barkley - ContraCostaTimes.com
Comment: A little more than a month ago, we were all wondering if the Cougars could rise to .500 in Mike Leach's first season. Now? 3-9 seems about right.

Preview: Washington State Cougars at No. 14 Oregon State Beavers - CBSSports.com
Watchability: Given the contrast in styles, this is definitely worth a look, though with the way Oregon State QB Sean Mannion is throwing the ball, maybe it's not such a contrast.

Washington State briefing : Cliff Kirkpatrick
Here’s the scouting report on the Cougars . On to the notes of interest on the game: