"It's awesome. It's a special deal. It's good to be in a spotlight," he said. "I think it's going to be motivating and all those things that come with it. It's pretty exciting."

Utah's inclusion in the polls marks the first time since 1996 that the Utes and rival BYU (15th in both rankings) are in the top 25 at the same time.

"It's a good thing," Whittingham said. "It's healthy for the state and healthy for the Mountain West Conference."

EXTRA POINTS: Whittingham reiterated that injuries to quarterback Corbin Louks (right shoulder), safety Robert Johnson (left hamstring) and left tackle Zane Beadles (knee) are day-to-day and all three players are still questionable for Saturday's game ... Tight end Brad Clifford (hip flexor) is out indefinitely and linebacker Lisi Leota (shoulder) will be sidelined for two weeks ... Utah season ticket sales have now exceeded 30,000 ... ESPN.com is projecting that Utah will land in the Fiesta Bowl in its latest bowl predictions.

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E-mail: dirk@desnews.com