Records don't matter in Apple Cup

Your Apple Cup warm up: Go down to Cellophane Square, buy some cheap vinyl, go home and throw it out your dorm room.

Why? It's rivalry week; you can throw the records out the window.

When the Huskies travel to Pullman for the Apple Cup, they will leave their 6-5 record in Seattle. On the other side, Washington State will no longer be the 9-1 team battling for a spot in the BCS.

When these two teams meet in the crisp afternoon air of Martin Stadium, it won't be for anything other than pride and tradition -- just Cougars against Huskies.

"It's Apple Cup time, which means it's a big game, and we are looking forward to it," said coach Rick Neuheisel.

These two teams have been playing each other since 1900, and this series has seen its share of craziness.

Who could forget the Washington State's 42-23 win in 1992, a game played in the thick of a Pullman blizzard? No one could tell where the field ended and the snowbanks began. To this day, fans on both sides of the mountains make their home page Yahoo! Weather during game week (in anticipation of a repeat).

And what about 2000, when Washington State's starting tailback Deon Burnett left at halftime and missed Washington's 51-3 victory?

Or the Cougars' 41-35 win in their Rose Bowl year of 1997, their last triumph in the series?

This rivalry has seen some strange events off the field, as well.

In World War II, eight players, nicknamed the "Couskies," were forced to leave Washington State's team so they could complete officer-training school in Seattle.

Tomorrow, Washington State and Washington resume what has grown to be one of the best rivalries in college football -- the Apple Cup.

"It's the biggest game in the state," said offensive lineman Khalif Barnes. "People aren't going to drive down to Washington State if it's not the Apple Cup.

In the past few years, Washington's seniors have watched the Apple Cup gradually turn into a power struggle for conference supremacy. This game used to be Wazzu's chance to knock the Huskies out of the Rose Bowl. But since the Cougars have become one of the premier programs in the nation, this rivalry has taken a new form.

"It's exciting because it's my last time playing in the Apple Cup. And it's a big rivalry, so I'm real excited," said receiver Paul Arnold.

A win would secure a bowl berth for the Huskies, but they would need a little help if they lost.

"We've got to put it all out on the field, because after the last snap, who knows what's going to happen (with the bowl situation)," said Mahdavi.