A Halloween night contest between the top-two squads in the Pac-12 North will be a treat for Cougar football fans – even if the Cardinal throw in a few tricks.

Washington State (5-2, 3-1 Pac-12) will take on No. 8 Stanford (6-1, 5-0) Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in Martin Stadium. It is the first time these two schools will face off in Pullman since Head Coach Mike Leach took over the program three seasons ago – the teams played in Seattle in 2013.

Stanford is 13-5 all-time when playing on Halloween, and the Cardinal have shown they aren’t afraid of mixing up their offensive formations to try to outsmart their opponents. In a win last week against Washington, the Cardinal ran a play in which senior left tackle Kyle Murphy lined up as a wide receiver and junior tight end Greg Tabaoda lined up on the offensive line. After confusing the Huskies’ defense, fifth-year senior quarterback Kevin Hogan hit Tabaoda for an 18-yard gain.

“They’ve been doing that for a while,” Leach said in a press conference of their unique formations. “It plays to their strengths. They have big people and they get them all out there on the field.”

The Stanford offense figures to be the biggest issue that might haunt the Cougars on Saturday. The Cardinal lead the Pac-12 in passing yards per completion (14.73) and time of possession per game (35:36), and they’ve lost only six turnovers all year.

Part of the reason why Stanford ranks so highly in these categories is because of its strong offensive line, which could pose a problem for the WSU defense.

“It’s going to be a big challenge this week,” senior defensive lineman Destiny Vaeao said. “Compared to any other game, this is probably the best o-line we’re going to face in the conference.”

The offensive line has helped Stanford sophomore running back Christian McCaffrey to a breakout season. McCaffrey leads the nation with nearly 260 all-purpose yards per game while ranking seventh with 136.1 rushing yards per game, garnering all sorts of Heisman attention.

“His versatility is the biggest thing,” Leach said. “He can catch it, he can run with it, and he’s really good with the ball in his hands. He’s just a good complete overall player.”

Of course, the Cougar offense is pretty scary itself.

WSU leads the Pac-12 in passing, averaging 415 yards per game, which ranks second in the country. In the last three games, redshirt sophomore quarterback Luke Falk has thrown for 1,426 yards and 16 touchdowns while completing 73.1 percent of his passes, and redshirt junior receiver Gabe Marks has caught seven touchdowns.

Despite the offense taking off through the air, Marks said that it’s still easy for the players to keep their egos grounded.

“Most of the guys that are key contributors on this team remember very vividly where we came from and being really bad,” Marks said. “So it’s hard to not stay grounded when you’ve been so low, when you’ve been to the bottom and now you’re climbing up.”

With a victory, the Cougars will become bowl eligible for the first time since 2013, and it would be their first win over a top-10 opponent since beating No. 5 Texas in the 2003 Holiday Bowl. Despite the magnitude of the match-up, it’s business as usual for the team.

“We’re going into it just looking to win another game this weekend,” Marks said. “Obviously, if we win, it’s for first place in the division, and that’s huge, but we can’t really put too much more importance on it than just another game because once you start doing that, then you start letting noise get involved in your preparation, and that’s never good.”

ESPN will broadcast the game, and live audio will be available at www.wsucougars.com.