RENO - Nobody has to remind the Nevada Wolf Pack football team of the importance of Saturday's game (1:05 p.m.) at Mackay Stadium against the UNLV Rebels.
"It's a huge game," Wolf Pack coach Chris Ault said. "You don't have to explain to your team what this game means to the university."
The Battle for the Fremont Cannon, widely regarded as college football's largest (more than 500 pounds) trophy, has been won by the Wolf Pack the last four years. The Pack rallied from a 17-7 deficit a year ago in Las Vegas to beat the Rebels, 49-27, to increase their lead in the series to 19-15.
Ault, who is 11-7 in the 40-year-old history of the in-state rivalry, doesn't even try to hide the importance of this game.
"There is nothing greater," Ault said. "It's the state championship. It's a one-game championship. It's for bragging rights in the state."
"There is just something about the UNLV game," Wolf Pack senior offensive lineman Alonzo Durham said. "That proud tradition we have makes this game separate from the others."
Making things more interesting this year is the fact that the Wolf Pack, at 0-3, is still looking for its first victory of the season. The Wolf Pack has gone into the UNLV game winless just three times before, not including the 1983 and 1991 games which were season openers.
"It doesn't matter that this is the UNLV game, your in-state rival and all that," Ault said. "When you are 0-3, it's a must-win game. It's that simple."
The game also might be a must-win affair for the Rebels. UNLV coach Mike Sanford, whose Rebel teams are just 2-21 on the road since he took over the program in 2005, has never beaten the Wolf Pack in four tries. One more loss and he will own the worst head coaching record (0-5) in the rivalry. The Wolf Pack's Chris Tormey (2000-2003) and UNLV's Jim Strong (1990-93) also went 0-4.
"Our seniors have never lost to UNLV," Ault said.
"When we fight for the cannon it's almost like a civil war, it's North against South," Durham said. "It's a battle of who wants it more."
Durham said he sensed a renewed enthusiasm at practice this week.
"At practice, when I looked to my right and looked to my left, I saw guys very hungry to play," Durham said.
UNLV (2-2) comes into the game off of a disappointing 30-27 loss at Wyoming last Saturday. The Rebels turned the ball over four times against the Cowboys in dropping their 20th consecutive Mountain West Conference road game. The Rebels, like the Pack, have struggled with turnovers this season. UNLV is minus-6 in turnover margin (108th in the nation) and the Pack is minus-9 (119th).
Ault, though, knows the Rebels will pose a stern test with their spread offense that also features a few plays adopted from the Pack's Pistol offense. UNLV quarterback Omar Clayton, who is nursing a sore shoulder but is expected to play, has thrown for 983 yards and six touchdowns despite throwing more interceptions (5) than he threw all of last year (4).
"They force you to defend the entire field," Ault said. "You have to keep him (Clayton) contained."
Clayton threw for 327 yards last year against the Pack, but was overshadowed by Pack quarterback Colin Kaepernick who ran for 240 yards and three touchdowns. Clayton's top target is wide receiver Ryan Wolfe, who leads all active FBS receivers in the nation in career catches (240) and receiving yards (3,119). Wolfe had eight catches for 167 yards last year against the Pack.
"When they get in trouble he's the guy they want to go to," said Ault of Wolfe.
The Rebels also feature Channing Trotter in the backfield. Trotter replaces Frank "The Tank" Summers from last year and has 295 yards and four touchdowns this year.
The Pack rushed for 444 yards and five touchdowns against UNLV a year ago. Vai Taua, who had 123 yards in the game on the ground, will likely miss Saturday's game with a sprained elbow suffered in the 31-21 loss to Missouri last Friday. Luke Lippincott, who had 114 yards in Taua's role last week, will get the bulk of the carries this week. Courtney Randall (49 yards, one TD last year at UNLV), Lampford Mark and Mike Ball will also see some carries, Ault said.
"When one guy goes down you just have to step in and take that role and run hard for the team," Lippincott said.
The Rebels' defense was shredded last week by Wyoming freshman quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels, making his first college start. Carta-Samuels threw for three touchdowns and completed 24-of-37 passes.
"They have a blitzing defense and like to play a lot of man coverage," said Ault of UNLV's defense.
The Pack, which has averaged 32 points a game in its latest four-game winning streak against Sanford's Rebels, is more than ready to take their frustrations out on somebody. The Pack is 17-4 against UNLV when it scores 20 or more points.
"It's to the point now where everyone knows what they're doing wrong," Kaepernick said. "We're focusing so much on those things that we're pressing. We just have to execute and play like we can and let things come to us."