As the local college football season turns the corner and heads into November, BYU will be looking to bounce back from its worst loss in two decades, Weber State will (still) be searching for its first Big Sky win of the year, and Utah State will be trying to keep alive its faint hopes of a Big West title and winning season.

Utah, meanwhile, would just as soon go into hiding for awhile, following the 40-point homecoming loss to Colorado State. The Utes have a week off to lick their wounds before facing New Mexico at home next week.Oregon (5-3) at BYU (6-2), noon - Very few non-conference games are played this late in the season and few matter, but this one will have a fair amount of importance for both teams.

For the Ducks, it could mean the difference between going to a bowl game or not. For the Cougars, it is an opportunity to get back on track after last week's embarrassing 42-point loss at Hawaii. Also, a win could help the Cougars' bowl chances, should they falter in their bid to make the Holiday Bowl.

At Tuesday's Coors Big Four Luncheon, LaVell Edwards tried to pass off last Saturday's big loss as "just one of those nights," a phrase he used at least four times. Edwards doesn't see any long-term effects from the defeat.

"I have no less feeling for the team than I did before (the Hawaii game)," he said. "We can still control our own destiny if we win our three conference games. We're looking forward to playing Oregon. It will be a good game to find out where we're really at."

The Cougars got some bad news early in the week when they learned that starting safety Troy Fuller injured his lower back and will be lost for the season. In his place, Eric Bergeson will move from cornerback and Tony Crutchfield will take over at corner, according to Edwards.

Oregon is led by quarterback Bill Musgrave, who Coach Rich Brooks calls "one of the best quarterbacks in the nation, although he he hasn't put up the numbers of Ty Detmer."

The Ducks are a hard team to figure. They have impressive wins over Arizona and Iowa, but they also gave Stanford its only win of the season.

Utah State (2-5, 2-1) at Pacific (1-8, 1-4), 8 p.m. - The Aggies will try to keep their Big West title hopes alive with a victory over one of their long-time patsies. The Aggies have defeated the Tigers 10 of the last 11 years.

However, the Aggies had better beware. That one loss came in 1985, when the Aggies went to Stockton with a 2-0 league mark and came home with a 33-7 shellacking.

According to Aggie Coach Chuck Shelton, the Tigers are much like Fullerton State, a team the Aggies beat by 11 earlier in the year. They like to put the ball in the air.

"If you take Fullerton State's package, it would be just the same, except they (Pacific) will run more option out of it and a little bit more `I' formation. Their passing package is about like Fullerton's," he said.

The Aggies will go into the game as healthy as they've been this season as the bye week allowed several players to recover from injuries.

"I think we're healed up - we kept it very low key this week," said Shelton.

The Tigers are led by freshman quarterback Troy Kopp, who has thrown for 1,412 yards and 11 touchdowns, receiver Jason Edwards (40 receptions) and running back Andrew Thomas.

Eastern Washington (3-4, 3-3) at Weber State (1-7, 0-6), 1 p.m. - EWU Coach Dick Zornes calls Weber State, "an emigma," but the same could be said for his team.

The Eagles beat a good Nevada-Reno team by 26 points one week, then came back and lost to a mediocre Montana State team by 25 the next week. The Eagles have also played league powers Idaho and Montana to close games.

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And despite averaging a point more than their opponents, the Eagles are allowing more than 100 yards a game in total offense to their opponents.

Dominic Corr has rushed for 525 yards this year for Eastern Washington. The Eagles average a little more in the air behind the arm of Mark Tenneson.

As usual, the Wildcats will rely on the passing combination of Ryan Schmidt to Peter Macon for their offense.

It's the homecoming game for Weber, which is just 12-15 in such games over the years.

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