"He is such a dynamic player and such a strong personality," Mendenhall said of Collie. "The concern now is that we don't focus too much on getting the ball to him. We actually become easier to defend when any one player is having statistical greatness, so there's a unique interplay there between continuing his statistical influence on the game and helping us win, but also not becoming predictable that in all the critical situations that all our points don't come from that one spot. We have to do a better job of distributing the ball effectively, even though he's having such a fine stretch here."

Meanwhile, TCU linebacker Daryl Washington was named MWC defensive player of the week after recording two tackles for loss, a sack, recovering a third-quarter fumble and intercepting a pass in the Frogs' 13-7 victory over CSU. TCU punter Anson Kelton received MWC special teams honors after punting seven times for an average of 42.6 per kick.

DEFENSIVE STRUGGLE?: While TCU's defense is the nation's best in a couple of statistical categories, BYU boasts the No. 2 scoring defense in the country, yielding 10.2 points per game. The Cougars have allowed just 17 points in their last 16 quarters.

"It's going to be two great defenses out there playing this week," said Cougar defensive lineman Jan Jorgensen. "We want to prove that we are the better of the two. It's always nice to go out with a chip on your shoulder and try to compete against someone else and prove that you are better."

It can be argued, of course, that the BYU offense has yet to be tested this season. Its FBS opponents are near the bottom in the nation in scoring offense, out of 119 teams — UCLA (No. 92), New Mexico (No. 95), Utah State (No. 98), Washington (No. 104) and Wyoming (No. 119).

Here comes a test — TCU is ranked No. 26 in scoring offense.

Asked how he would evaluate his own defense if he were an opposing offensive coordinator, Mendenhall said, "I would think that they are average and wonder how they're keeping the points off the board. And they play hard."

Ft. Worth, a place where winning streaks go to die

2005: Utah, fresh off its BCS-busting season of 2004, and riding a nation-leading 18-game winning streak, visited TCU in the conference-opener for both schools. The Horned Frogs nipped the Utes, 23-20, in overtime, to dash Utah's hopes of another BCS-busting season. TCU went on to win the outright MWC championship.

2006: No. 15 TCU, boasting a nation-leading 13-game winning streak, hosted a 2-2 BYU team. The Horned Frogs enjoyed a bye week while the Cougars were working on a short week. But BYU took control early and dominated TCU, 31-17, crushing the Frogs' BCS hopes. The Cougars went on to claim the outright MWC title.

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E-mail: jeffc@desnews.com