Bronco Mendenhall, who served under Long as his defensive coordinator for four years (1998-2002), knows and respects the toughness Long imprints in his players — in the tradition of Joe Lee Dunn — and has prepared Hall and company appropriately this week.

"It puts a lot of pressure on our quarterback and center," said Reynolds. "They have a lot of responsibility."

This week's predictions:

UTAH 38, WYOMING 0: I'll put it this way. If Utah pulled the plug on its offense every time it got to the Wyoming 45 and had Louis Sakoda boot a field goal, the Utes would win at least 12-0. The onside kick and bird flip of a year ago will have no relevance in this game — it's buried history, except with us media folk.

TCU 17, COLORADO STATE 9: If there is a surprise this week, I'd pick this as the one since the Rams have started showing some offensive muscle. But the Frogs are too polished on defense and should be able to win this game with stout run defense and gaining big turnovers.

AIR FORCE 24, SAN DIEGO STATE 10: The Falcons should return to its winning ways by scoring enough on the Aztecs while blitzing whomever Chuck Long puts in at quarterback enough times to disrupt the 1-4 home team.

BYU 34, NEW MEXICO 10: The Lobos are breaking in a new quarterback after Donovan Porterie had surgery, and LaVell Edwards Stadium isn't a friendly place for a rookie struggling to pass effectively outside of practice time. The Cougars do respect RB Rodney Ferguson and his backup, freshman James Wright, but BYU's defense will get turnovers today.

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E-mail: dharmon@desnews.com