Cougars set to take on Cardinal

The Stanford Cardinal are the only Pac-12 team WSU has not beaten since Mike Leach took over as head coach. From a pregame perspective, Saturday night presents WSU's best opportunity defeat the Cardinal since 2007. Last season, of course, the Cougars were a whisper away from a win, but Stanford was a heavy favorite going in, and nearly everyone thought they'd win rather easily.

This season is markedly different, based largely on what happened last week. Friday night, Washington completely dominated Stanford, and served notice that the Cardinal's annual perch atop the Pac-12 North standings is all but over. The next day, WSU ran over, around and through a hapless Oregon defense to the tune of 600+ yards and 51 points.

So despite the fact that WSU began the season 0-2 while Stanford notched wins over Kansas State, USC and UCLA, many WSU faithful not only think WSU can win Saturday night, the prevailing attitude is that WSU should win. But as any college football fan knows, this is a week-to-week sport. One Saturday you look like world-beaters. By the time the next Saturday ends, you're the king of poop island.

I don't think there is a Cougar fan who believes that WSU can't win tonight. After what we saw last weekend, we absolutely know that the Cougs can leave Palo Alto with a win and serve notice that they're a contender. That team on the other sideline will have a say, however, and even though they're dinged up, there is still a lot of talent and pride over there. There's also Christian McCaffrey. That said, the Cougs can do it. Let's go.

Football

Cougars want to continue to play with new-found toughness against Stanford | The Spokesman-Review
After the BSU loss, Leach and the coaches changed their approach. There was less positive reinforcement for doing one’s job, and the coaches demanded more from the players in practice. WSU showed its new edge as it beat up Idaho and Oregon, scoring more than 50 points in both contests.

2-Minute Drill: What to watch when WSU takes on Stanford | The Spokesman-Review
It will be interesting to see if WSU continues to turn to the run game, having rushed for more than 200 yards in each of its last two games.

Stanford vs. Washington State Game Preview & Fearless Prediction | College Football News
The Cougars almost had them.

Pac-12 Team-By-Team Predictions For Every Game & Scores After Week 5 | College Football News
The 2016 Pac-12 schedule with the predictions for the remaining games, scores and schedules after Week 5.

Smart move: Washington State's Air Raid has Stanford worried about the ground
As if Stanford head coach David Shaw didn’t already have enough to worry about. His team is coming off of a bad loss to Washington, the secondary is beat up and the Washington State Air Raid is coming to town.

Pac-12 Week 6 game picks: Washington eyes end of a 12-year skid
A look at the Pac-12 blog's picks for this week's games, including No. 5 Washington trying to end a lengthy skid against host Oregon.

Pac-12 Week 6 viewer's guide: Can Washington break the streak?
Washington State experienced nearly unprecedented running success last weekend against Oregon, going for 280 yards and six rushing touchdowns.

Volleyball

No. 10 WSU Volleyball Takes 3-1 Win at Oregon State - WSUCougars.com | Washington State University Athletics
The No. 10 Washington State volleyball team moved to a 15-2 overall record and remained undefeated and in the sole possession of the lead of the Pac-12 Conference with a 5-0 record after scoring a 19-25, 25-15, 25-20, and 25-18 win over Oregon State (8-8, 1-4) at Gill Coliseum Friday night in Corvallis.

Beer

Best beer I had this week: Went on a mini-vacation this weekend, and spotted some Funky Buddha Last Snow at Trader Joe's. I bought an entire case. That's how good it is. Probably gonna bring some up to the PNW for Thanksgiving, provided I don't drink all of them. No guarantees.

Non-Sports

High Hitler: how Nazi drug abuse steered the course of history | Books | The Guardian
German writer Norman Ohler’s astonishing account of methamphetamine addiction in the Third Reich changes what we know about the second world war