CHRIS CODUTO/Arizona Daily Wildcat Arizona quarterback Nic Costa hands off during the Wildcats' 24-21 loss to UCLA Oct. 11. The Wildcats travel to Corvallis, Ore. to take on OSU tomorrow.

Wildcats visit Reser for third straight season

The Wildcat football team will be looking for its first win in two months this weekend ÷ and most of the players will guarantee that they will be coming out to hit somebody right in the mouth.

Today, Arizona football heads to Corvallis for the third straight year to take on Oregon State (5-3, 2-2 Pacific 10 Conference) tomorrow at 2 p.m.

Arizona (1-7, 0-4) will be looking for its first Pac-10 win in more than a year ÷ a streak that dates back to the Wildcats' win against California late last season in Berkeley.

Interim head coach Mike Hankwitz said that the need to win becomes greater and greater as every week progresses.

"This is going to be a great challenge because we are facing a team that was expected to be a contender for the Pac-10 title," Hankwitz said. "They are still going to be a team that is hungry and ready to play."

The Beavers lost a heartbreaker last weekend to a Washington State team that pulled out a victory despite seven turnovers.

The Wildcat defense will have to be stellar to match up with OSU's Steven Jackson ÷ the best rusher in the Pac-10 and arguably the best in the nation.

"He is an excellent runner because he runs north and south most of the time," Hankwitz said. "He runs aggressively and he is hard to bring down on the first hit."

Senior linebacker Clay Hardt described the method of stopping Jackson in six simple words.

"Hit him right in his mouth," Hardt said.

The Wildcats enter this weekend after giving up 201 yards last week to California's Adimchinobe Echemandu ÷ a problem Hardt said has been thoroughly addressed at practice.

"A lot of stuff last week was just us not doing our assignments right," Hardt said. "When that happens to you, it's not that you adjust (to it), you just work on doing it right in practice the next week."

CHRIS CODUTO/ARIZONA DAILY WILDCAT Freshman quarterback Kris Heavner dodges a UCLA defender during Arizona's 24-21 loss earlier this month. The UA looks to pick up its first conference win tomorrow at OSU.

Redshirt sophomore tailback Mike Bell will be flying solo in the backfield this weekend, as Hankwitz suspended senior Clarence Farmer indefinitely this week after Farmer broke unspecified team rules.

Bell believes that even with the added weight, he will be ready for a Badgers rushing defense that's ranked 11th in the nation.

"The (coaches) have been emphasizing running downfield, and I've been taking that to heart because I know that's a necessity these days," Bell said. "You can't be dancing in the backfield, so (I need to) try to hit the holes as hard as possible."

Bell, who rushed for a career-high 182 yards on 19 carries last week, said he believes that any team can be beaten and any defense can be broken down.

"Any team's susceptible (and) I'm confident with the coaches coming up with great schemes," Bell said. "I believe we can do anything against (the Beavers)."