LOS ANGELES – Free-spirited and boundlessly optimistic, college football players think any mountain can be scaled.

And any hole can be climbed out of – even the ones that UCLA and Washington find themselves in, with both owning 3-5 records heading into the key home stretch of November in the Pacific-10 Conference.

Mathematically, both are still alive for postseason consideration.

The six-win plateau is reachable.

But it figures only the victor in today’s 12:30 p.m. matchup at the Rose Bowl can maintain even the faintest of hopes for a late-season boon.

“The kids are very upbeat,” Huskies coach Steve Sarkisian said. “I think they realize they’ve got a great opportunity ahead of them this week, and also the final four games of the season.”

The biggest reason for hope? The schedule.

In UW’s case, the hard stretch is over. The Huskies have faced opponents with a combined record of 42-14, which ranks as the second-most-difficult schedule in the NCAA behind Virginia Tech (45-13) heading into this week.

With UCLA and Washington State still left to play, the record of the remaining opponents collectively is 15-17.

The Bruins have the same luxury with UW, WSU and Arizona State as three of their final four games.

The question is, is it too late for either school to think bowl game in 2009?

History might say it is. The last school to enter the November stretch of its schedule two games under .500 and finish bowl-eligible was Arizona in 2006.

The Wildcats were 3-5, then won three of their final four games to finish 6-6 and still did not receive a bowl bid.

Oregon State was also 3-5 in 2004, beat Stanford, Oregon and Washington to close out the regular season and earned a berth to the Insight Bowl where it defeated Notre Dame, 38-21.

Neither UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel nor UW’s Sarkisian really want their players to view the rest of the season in those terms. Both have young teams.

Of the 44 projected starters on offense and defense for the game today, 24 are sophomores or freshmen.

“The real message is to get re-energized to focus and be attentive to the details as we were earlier in the season. I think we have diminished in that area as the season has gone on,” Sarkisian said. “We’ve gotten a little bit sloppy, a little bit spotty in all areas of our football team.”

Of course, the pressure on Neuheisel to win is extreme and unforgiving, given the Bruins had made it to 10 bowl games in 11 seasons before his arrival last season.

If UCLA, on a five-game skid, misses the postseason in back-to-back seasons, it will mark the first time in Neuheisel’s coaching career that has occurred.

“We’re starving (for a win),” Neuheisel said. “We’ve just not played well enough to get over the top. The only way I know is how to fix that is keep working at it, and keep getting guys to understand that little things matter. Hopefully we can get past that barrier this weekend.”

Todd Milles: 253-597-8442

todd.milles@thenewstribune.com

blog.thenewstribune.com/uw sports

HUSKIES GAMEDAY

WASHINGTON (3-5, 2-3 PAC-10) at UCLA (3-5, 0-5)

Kickoff: 12:30 p.m., Rose Bowl, Pasadena, Calif.

TV: FSN. Radio: 950-AM.

The series: UCLA leads, 37-29-2, and hasn’t lost to the Huskies at home since 1995. The UW’s last win came in 2006, 29-19.

What to watch: Will Jake Locker be limited by his thigh injury? He looked nimble this week and was relaxed making all the throws in practice, but that wasn’t going at game speed with UCLA’s Brian Price chasing you. ... Can Bruins coach/master motivator Rick Neuheisel pull a victory out of his hat? Under no circumstances does he want to drop a game to the school that ran him out of town. The Bruins will feed off that. ... Has the Rose Bowl become UCLA’s house of horrors? The home team is 114-52-2 in Pasadena but dropped its past four Pacific-10 Conference home games.

What’s at stake: A loss here and it would be difficult to see the Huskies run the table to finish 6-6 to even have a shot at a bowl game. This is a must-win situation for both schools who boast impressive wins on their 2009 résumés (UW vs. USC, UCLA at Tennessee).

TNT pick: Bruins, 21-17.

PRIME NUMBERS

WASHINGTON

No.Name (position)Height/WeightYear

1Chris Polk (RB/KR)5-11/210Freshman

A lot of touches – and a big play or two – might be in order.

9Donald Butler (MLB)6-1/235Senior

Facing another freshman tailback. Johnathan Franklin is no LaMichael James.

26Jason Wells (FS)6-2/214Senior

His size could help Huskies deal with tall UCLA wideouts.

65Ryan Tolar (C)6-5/293Junior

In terms of standing his ground, facing DT Brian Price his sternest test.

66Daniel Te’o-Nesheim (DE)6-4/263Senior

Elisara out, Hawaii standout in on some action at defensive tackle.

UCLA

3Rahim Moore (FS)6-1/197Sophomore

Three multiple-interception games officially qualifies him as ball hawk.

14Kevin Prince (QB)6-2/219Freshman

If he can’t cut it, honorary captain Gary Beban is waiting in the wings.

22Sheldon Price (CB)6-2/163Freshman

If there’s a guy to attack on this defense, he’s it.

86Logan Paulsen (TE)6-6/264Senior

We keep listing tight ends for a reason. They’re the Huskies’ kryptonite.

92Brian Price (DT)6-2/300Junior

The immovable object is a mainstay in opposing backfields.

Todd Milles, The News Tribune