FACTS & STATS: Site: Bulldog Stadium (41,031) -- Fresno, California. Television: ESPN. Home Record: KSU 4-2, FSU 4-1. Away Record: KSU 1-4, FSU 2-3. Neutral Record: KSU 0-0, FSU 0-0. Conference Record: KSU 3-5, FSU 5-2. Series Record: Fresno State leads, 1-0.

GAME NOTES: Trying to position themselves better for a possible postseason contest, the Fresno State Bulldogs take a break from Western Athletic Conference action this weekend to challenge the Kansas State Wildcats in the Golden State. Fresno relaxed last week with a bye after the team nearly upset nationally-ranked and still-undefeated Hawaii on the road in Honolulu in a 37-30 decision. The loss was the second in the last three outings for coach Pat Hill and his crew, but there's still time to impress those who make the selections for the postseason, with a meeting against New Mexico State still on tap at the end of the month. Meanwhile the Wildcats, members of the Big 12 Conference, at one point had a chance to make some noise in league play, but since blowing apart Baylor in late October the squad has fallen on hard times. KSU has dropped three straight decisions and is now a game below .500 following a 49-32 setback versus nationally-ranked Missouri at home on Saturday. The Bulldogs won the only previous meeting between these teams with a 45-21 thumping of Kansas State in Manhattan in 2004.

Josh Freeman converted 26-of-41 passes for 256 yards and a pair of touchdowns, but even his efforts were not enough to derail the machine that is Missouri football. Jordy Nelson was the recipient of eight of those completions for 94 yards and a score, while Ernie Price took his only catch into the end zone on the day. Coming out of the backfield, James Johnson raced 172 yards on 22 carries and scored a pair of touchdowns of his own in the setback. On Monday, it was announced that Nelson had been named a finalist for the 2007 Biletnikoff Award, recognizing the nation's top receiver. Owner of no less than 11 school receiving records, Nelson is second in the nation in receptions per game with just under 10 per outing and already has school records with 107 receptions for 1,441 yards and 10 scores over 11 games. Thanks to Nelson, the passing attack for the Wildcats checks in with 288.1 ypg to rank fifth in the conference and 18th in the nation this week. Certainly a component of the KSU offense that cannot be overlooked is Freeman who has 16 TDs against 11 INTs, but perhaps the one who is helping Nelson more than any one is Johnson coming out of the backfield. Because he has more than 1,000 yards and 11 touchdowns, defenses have to be aware of where he is at all times.

Missouri isn't ranked in the top-five for nothing. The Tigers scored two touchdowns on the ground versus the Kansas State run defense and tallied another four through the air, exposing the Wildcat secondary. Ray Cheatham and Byron Garvin both recorded eight tackles for KSU, the latter making one stop behind the line of scrimmage. Although they didn't make much of a difference in the long haul, Ian Campbell and Brandon Balkcom both recorded sacks in the setback. Campbell has just 37 tackles through 11 games for the Wildcats, yet he's first on the team with 11 tackles for loss and four and a half sacks, not to mention tops with four recovered fumbles as well. The defense has seen its share of highs and lows this season, getting a glimpse of both the good and the bad in a span of just a few weeks. After beating Baylor and holding the Bears to just 13 points, the squad surrendered a gaudy 73 points to a mysterious Nebraska program two weeks later. As a result, the unit is permitting 29.6 ppg to rank ninth in the conference and 77th in the country this week.

The strength of this Fresno State offense this season has been the running game, one that is averaging 195.7 ypg to this point. A huge part of that has been Ryan Mathews with his 751 yards and team-best 12 touchdowns on 120 carries. However, Mathews is listed as questionable for this weekend with a sprained ankle, which means Lonyae Miller will probably get his number called even more. Miller has been a great complement to Mathews, generating 480 yards and six TDs in his eight games. But as strong as those two have been for Fresno State this season, there's no getting around how marginal quarterback Tom Brandstater has been. All too often it seems Brandstater has gotten in the way of the offense pulling off something big, even though he's completed almost 60 percent of his passes for 12 touchdowns and just five interceptions. A candidate for all-conference recognition, Bear Pascoe leads the team with 38 receptions for 474 yards and four touchdowns, but the fact that the tight end leads the team in all three of those categories says a lot about how few times Brandstater has been given the green light to go down the field.

When the Fresno State defense has played well this season it has been lights out, but when the squad fails to show up opponents generally have a field day and produce huge chunks of yardage. Three FSU opponents (Sacramento State, Louisiana Tech and San Jose State) have been held to six points or less, but there's also the games versus Texas A&M and Oregon where the group surrendered 99 points in back-to-back outings in early September. The pass defense has been relatively decent with just 214.6 ypg allowed, second best in the WAC entering play this week, but one has to remember that Fresno State was the last of the 119 Football Bowl Subdivision programs to record an interception. That lack of coverage and anticipation plays a big part in why the team is eighth in the conference and 106th in the nation in turnover margin with minus-.80 miscues per game. In terms of sacks, Tyler Clutts and Jon Monga are tied for the team lead with five and a half per game, pushing the squad to second in the WAC and eighth in the nation with 3.2 sacks per game.

With the problems that FSU has had catching up to quick-strike passing attacks, the Bulldogs will have to pay strict attention to Nelson this weekend or else Kansas State could escape back to Manhattan with a victory.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Fresno State 24, Kansas State 21

Saturday, November 24th, 3:30 p.m. (et).