WSU Notebook | Losses make Cal dangerous

Washington State coach Bill Doba joked Monday that he "really felt good" after the Cougars' 27-7 upset of UCLA until Sunday afternoon when he sat down to watch film of upcoming opponent California.

The talented Bears (5-3, 2-3 Pac-10) hope to halt a three-game Pac-10 skid in the televised Saturday night game.

Doba, who knows something about losing streaks because WSU snapped a four-game skid by beating the Bruins, said the Bears' season now can "go either way."

"They can either really get upset and turn it around and come out like gangbusters and come after you, or else they can start bickering," he said. "It could help them or could hurt them."

Cal lost at Arizona State 31-20 Saturday night and had been upset by UCLA 30-21 the previous Saturday.

"Quite honestly, UCLA beating Cal the week before was probably the best thing that happened to us," Doba said.

UCLA arrived in Pullman banged up and ripe for a letdown loss. In the first half, the Bruins' top running back (Kahlil Bell) and receiver (Brandon Breazell) were knocked out of the game.

Doba called the triumph "a lot of fun. We needed it. Our kids were very, very excited about it afterwards."

When a reporter asked Doba whether the win might have reduced speculation about his job security, he replied: "We're not going to talk about that, OK? Let's talk about Cal and the rest of it. We've got a long way to go yet."

Notes

• The Nov. 3 WSU home game against Stanford has been picked up for television by Fox Sports Northwest. Kickoff is at 3:30 p.m.

• Backup DE Mike Graise (ankle) is considered doubtful for Saturday's game. Doba said starting C Kenny Alfred (concussion symptoms) will be tested this week. Doba is optimistic that Alfred will be able to play against Cal.

• Two other players with concussions who have missed games — starting SS Alfonso Jackson and backup RB Chris Ivory — will be tested this week to see if they can resume playing.

• A statistical oddity mentioned by Doba is that the Cougars had more net yardage (average of 42.7) on punts against UCLA than actual yardage (average 42.0). Reason? The only punt returned was for a 2-yard loss.

• Doba noted that coverage has improved since the Cougars went to rugby-style punting by Reid Forrest. He said teams aren't rushing the punter as much as they did. As a result, WSU is sending four gunners downfield, and the extra time Forrest takes in his rugby-style punting means the Cougars get about 5 yards closer to the return man.

Craig Smith: 206-464-8279 or csmith@seattletimes.com