he WSU football team travels to Tempe, Arizona, for a showdown with the Arizona State Sun Devils.

The Cougars (4-2, 3-0) are undefeated in conference play and a win over ASU (5-2, 2-2) would give the team its first 4-0 start in Pac-12 play since the 2003 season that saw them defeat the fifth-ranked University of Texas team in the Holiday Bowl.

Despite the team’s four-game winning streak, WSU Head Coach Mike Leach knows that the Cougars cannot be overconfident heading into this game.

“We have to play better,” Leach said. “We have to get better each week … you need to steadily improve.”

The Pac-12 is heralded as ‘Power Five’ conference and one of the toughest in the NCAA, but found it was left out of the College Football Playoff last year due to parity across its teams.

Outside of No. 5 University of Washington (6-0, 3-0), no team is heads-and-shoulders above another, and this trend is something the Cougars will face in the desert.

The Cougs are riding a hot streak and are tied for the top spot in the Pac-12 North division alongside the Huskies and are favored by seven points as of Thursday’s betting line. However, the team does not expect a win to come easy in a venue the program has not won since 2001.

“We need to stay humble, and just keep doing our thing every week,” junior rush linebacker Dylan Hanser said. “We’re zero-and-zero this week and it’s time to get after ASU.”

One of the major reasons WSU finds itself favored entering the game is because of the success of its air raid offense.

Arizona State is currently ranked last in the conference in passing defense, allowing 387 yards-per-game through the air and more than 100 yards-per-game than any other team in the conference.

The struggling ASU pass defense will undoubtedly be put to the test on Saturday night as WSU is currently riding the arm of redshirt junior quarterback Luke Falk, who leads the NCAA in completed passes.

Falk has completed 71.5 percent of his passes for 2113 yards and 16 touchdowns on just five interceptions, making him one of the nation’s most efficient passers.

Falk and a receiving corps that includes redshirt senior wide receiver Gabe Marks, who is second on the Pac-12’s all-time reception leaderboard, has an opportunity to slice up a porous Sun Devils defense.

While the ASU pass defense is floundering, the trio of WSU running backs made up of redshirt juniors Jamal Morrow and Gerard Wicks, and redshirt freshman James Williams will be tested by the Sun Devils’ rush defense.

The Sun Devils rank second in the Pac-12 in run defense behind WSU and allow just 121 yards-per-game. The Sun Devils’ rush defense shined in their week six matchup against UCLA where they held the Bruins to minus-one rushing yards.

Morrow, Wicks and Williams will be expected to lead the rushing charge on Saturday and take pressure off Falk in the passing game. Morrow and Williams rank in the top-50 nationally in yards-per-carry and Wicks is 33rd in the country in touchdowns scored from the line of scrimmage.

Despite their recent national recognitions, the three backs will be in a tough spot against an Arizona State defensive front led by junior lineman Koron Crump, who leads the Sun Devils with five sacks on the season.

While the Cougs are riding a hot streak, ASU is regarded as a spotty team that might not be quite as strong as their 5-2 record indicates.

The Sun Devils are .500 in conference play with both losses coming by more than 20 points and have won three of their games by 10 points or less. The team was blown out by the University of Southern California 41-20 in week five and was dumped by the University of Colorado 40-16 last week.

The Sun Devils failed to break 200 yards of offense in the game and managed only seven first downs.

Even with ASU’s recent struggles, Marks refuses to discredit any team in the Pac-12 or any conference game

“We realize that we have a good chance to win every game on our schedule,” Marks said, “and a good chance to lose if we don’t prepare right.”

The game will kick off at 7 p.m. Saturday night on the Pac-12 Network.