A Pac-10 title picture that was pretty muddled a week ago is now crystal clear --- the winner of the Oregon-Oregon State game Dec. 3 goes to the Rose Bowl.

Simple as that. Wins by both Oregon schools today and Cal's upset of Arizona eliminated everyone else --- every other Pac-10 team now has at least three conference losses. And if OSU beats Oregon, it wins the head-to-head with the Ducks.

As for the Huskies, UDubSports.com reported tonight that linebacker Garrett Gilliland of Lutheran High in Orange, Calif., has committed to Washington. However, Dawgman.com reported that Gilliland has not yet had a chance to talk to UW coach Steve Sarkisian and that any commitment won't be final until he does. So sounds like one to write in pencil, for now. Gilliland is expected to take an official visit to UW for the Apple Cup. Rivals.com listed him as also having offers from Colorado, Washington State, Fresno State and Duke and rates him as the No. 75 OLB in the country.

Here's a note on Gilliland from the Orange County Register last week noting he's been battling an ankle injury all season.

Well, I got one Husky-related news item out of coming to Pullman today as word here is that the 2010 Apple Cup will apparently be played on Dec. 4.

WSU athletic director Jim Sterk confirmed that the Apple Cup is moving off of its scheduled Nov. 20. He would not say to what date it is moving. But WSU coach Paul Wulff said in his post-game news conference that it is expected that the game will be Dec. 4 in Pullman.

That would be the first December Apple Cup in the 102-game history of the series (game No. 102 coming next week).

The move will also give the Cougars and Huskies each two mid-season byes, one of the main reasons for the change.

The Cougars will fill the Apple Cup date with a home game against Cal on Nov. 20.

The Apple Cup was first moved off its traditional Saturday before Thanksgiving date in 2007 when it was played in Seattle on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

It stayed on its usual Saturday last year in Pullman, but will again be played this year the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

There had been a thought that the two schools would prefer not to play a game as late as the first weekend in December in Pullman.

But apparently each school has, uh, warmed to the idea to open up byes during the season and create greater flexibility in the schedule.

UW had been in talks with Oregon State to move a game set for Oct. 16 in Seattle to Dec. 4 for the same purpose, but that apparently fell through.

This move is separate from the talks of last spring to move the Apple Cup to Qwest Field. That idea is dead for now. Instead, this is simply just to try to add byes in the school.

I'm assuming this means there will be some further juggling in UW's 2010 schedule but I don't have info on any other moves.

The Pac-10 schedule for 2010 is expected to be announced soon.

The latest the Apple Cup has ever been played is Nov. 30, most recently in 1965.

Here's a link to UW's current 2010 schedule.

A bye week Saturday means mostly finding some links on some future Huskies.

--- And bad news for one of them as TB Deontae Cooper sprained an ankle early in the second half and his Citrus Hill team was upset, ending a 38-game winning streak and his fabulous high school career. He had 210 yards before being injured. The injury doesn't sound serious.

--- Nick Montana threw for three TDs and ran for another as Oaks Christian won its first playoff game 70-14.

--- TB Jesse Callier had 232 yards rushing and 348 total as Warren won its first playoff game 51-21. He has 2,864 rushing yards for the season

--- WR/DB commit Keanon Lowe scored three touchdowns for Jesuit of Portland as it won its second-round playoff game.

--- All the Pac-10 links you could want from The Oregonian.

May not be much else on the blog today as I'm on assignment in, well, Pullman. Not covering the game, per se, but just getting some stuff for our Apple Cup coverage next week. But not figuring to see much of a suspenseful game here and not assuming you guys would want to read much about it in this space, anyway. But if anything interesting happens or is said, I'll check in later.

Another round. ...

Q: How many incoming recruits do you expect to enroll early?

A: So far, the only two who have indicated they will try to do it are running backs Deontae Cooper and Jesse Callier. If there's anything bad about that, it's that tailback is probably the team's least worriesome position going forward, so maybe it'd be better if it were linemen or something getting the head start.However, Cooper and Callier enrolling early means they could count as members of the Class of 2009, opening up a couple spots in the Class of 2010, which helps. Nick Montana has said he will not be able enroll early, his transfer after his sophomore year apparently meaning he has to stay the full year to graduate.

Q: Do you expect any shakeup in the assistant coaching staff next season?

A: No. For one, Steve Sarkisian has stated emphatically several times he sees no reason to panic despite the recent losing streak. It's clear that in his mind, it's far too early to make any kind of determination that he needs to make a change in staff --- I think that would be the case even if they somehow lost the last two. For another, every assistant has a two-year guaranteed contract (here are all the details on that). UW is obviously willing to spend what it takes when it comes to football, but finances also come into increasing play these days. So unless an assistant leaves willingly for another job -- and that could always happen --- I don't expect any staff changes.

We don't usually delve into non-football matters here but thought this would be of interest to a lot of you on here as news broke today that former Husky baseball coach Ken Knutson is now the new interim head coach at Arizona State.

Here's the story detailing the sudden resignation of ASU coach Pat Murphy. Knutson was fired as UW's coach last spring and then hired by ASU as a volunteer coach.

The story indicates ASU will conduct a full-scale search for the job and it's unclear how long Knutson will remain as interim coach.

The Huskies are off this weekend, meaning a 14-day wait from the OSU loss to possible redemption against the Cougars in the Apple Cup.

And the wait may be the longest for offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier, who said on Wednesday he wished the Huskies had had a game the day after the OSU loss to get the "sour taste'' out of his mouth.

While head coach Steve Sarkisian calls the plays for the Huskies, Nussmeier helps shape the game plan each week and helps guide the offense from the press box on game day.

And he felt the Oregon State game was the worst effort of the season as the Huskies gained 11 yards or fewer on nine of their first 10 drives --- the lone exception a 66-yarder for a touchdown late in the second quarter. UW later mounted two other scoring drives but by then, the damage had been done in an eventual 48-21 defeat.

"For nine weeks essentially, win, lose or draw, what we put out there on the field we could still turn on the film and say 'hey, we put it out there,''' he said. "And I don't think against Oregon State we did. And I think our players would agree with that assessment.''

Indeed, the one silver lining this week is that Nussmeier felt the players showed the proper attitude in getting back to work after

Before I get to some more questions this morning, a quick link from the LA Times with more on Steve Sarkisian's recruiting efforts in that area this weekend.

Now, questions. ...

Q: What is the read on Skyler Fancher? He was recruited late by USC and Tyrone Willingham's staff was really high on his potential. I know that he hurt his ankle but does the current Husky staff see him as an impact player /starter next year?

A: I'm not sure they've seen him enough to have much of a feeling on him one way or the other. He got hurt about midway through spring practice, injuring his ankle, then again about midway through fall camp. He was working with the No. 2 unit at tackle at the time, and Dan Cozzetto had said he'd done some good things. But injuries and long absences always make it hard to judge where a player really fits. Sarkisian said this week he wasn't sure if Fancher would be available for spring ball, though Fancher appears to be getting healthier --- he's no longer using crutches now walking around on a boot. But if he is, that will be a key time for Fancher to re-establish his role on the team.

Well, I finally got an Oregon game almost exactly right last week. Stanford, the other team that seems most vexing, was another matter.

But I'll take another try at it again this week as each plays in what are the most critical games of this weekend in the Pac-10.

OREGON AT ARIZONA (Ducks by 6): Go through all the Pac-10 stats and it's hard to find too many big differences between these two teams. Each ranks pretty similarly just about everywhere other than pass offense, which is largely a function of the fact that the Ducks just don't throw it as much as a lot of other teams (their 250 attempts this year fewer than anyone in the conference except Stanford). So this one mostly comes down to feel and intangibles --- will Arizona's home-field advantage make all the difference? Or will Oregon's greater experience playing in big games matter more? Finally, I settled on this --- while UA QB Nick Foles has been really good this year, he's shown some signs of hitting the first-year starter wall. Jeremiah Masoli, meanwhile, seems to just keep getting better. So call this one for the Ducks to set up a Civil War for the ages. OREGON 37, ARIZONA 30.

CAL AT STANFORD (Cardinal by 7): Must-win for Stanford to stay in the Rose Bowl race. And while it's tempting to wonder if Stanford will have to battle the post-beating-USC hangover that seems to usually afflict teams, playing at home and in what for once is truly a big game Big Game should obviously ward off any letdown. I actually think this game could come down to which team passes the ball better --- for all that's made of Stanford's running, the Cardinal leads the Pac-10 in passing efficiency due largely to Andrew Luck throwing just three interceptions this season. Figure the Cardinal to get some big plays against a Cal pass defense ranked ninth in the conference to break this one open. STANFORD 31, CAL 21.