Associated Press<b r> Oregon State fans cheer during an NCAA college football game Saturday against Washington State at Martin Stadium in Pullman, Wash.

Oregon State fans who visit Martin Stadium in Pullman normally find themselves crammed into the end zone.

Last weekend, they pretty much had their pick of the best seats in the house. There were 21,000 vacancies in a venue which holds somewhere around 37,000.

With WSU students enjoying a long Thanksgiving vacation and with a noticeable number of fans preoccupied with anything other than attending yet another blowout, noise was no more a factor than was either the Cougar offense or defense.

The 42-10 victory thrust the Beavers into a showdown with Oregon in a Civil War game that will decide the Pac-10 champion and the league’s entrant to the Rose Bowl. While the Ducks are assured at least a share of the title, a win by OSU would create a tie and the Rose Bowl bid would go to the victor in head-to-head competition.

Even if the schools are 0-10 the annual meeting holds tremendous significance. Never, perhaps in its history, has it been this significant.

It’s an extension of the attention the Pac-10 has been getting lately – something that rarely happens despite the fact they deserve better. This, after all, is the conference that went 5-0 during the last bowl season.

College Gameday was back visiting the Pac-10, this time in Tucson covering the matchup between the Ducks and Arizona. Fans certainly got their money’s worth when the offensive shootout went into double overtime.

Meanwhile, the nation’s elite, Florida and Alabama, were spending a mid-November weekend playing a couple of cupcakes – one of which was a Division II noncombatant.

As more than one commentator noted, it was amazing how few teams are spending this part of the season playing top tier opponents.

Meanwhile, back in Pullman, there was one possible scenario that might have yielded a win for the hapless Cougars. Pilots Tim Cheney of Gig Harbor and Richard Cole of Salem were both available to fly the Beavers north. That pair, if you will remember, are the ones who flew the Northwest Airlines jet 150 miles past its destination with 144 clueless passengers aboard and the White House on alert for a possible hijacking.

Had they been engaged to transport OSU to Pullman, the game might have had a different outcome.

The Cougars, who will end their season on Nov. 28 in an Apple Cup appearance in Seattle, still find themselves near the bottom of the nation in most offensive and defensive categories.

In fairness, kicker Reid Forrest moved into third place Saturday in career punting yards. He’s certainly been provided with enough opportunities and the practice has paid off.

While this year, and maybe next year, belong to the Ducks and Beavers, don’t dismiss the Cougars forever. Paul Wulff inherited an empty cupboard. Of the 77 athletes recruited by Bill Doba, forty have vanished from the program. Last weekend, the Cougs only suited up 45 players. The week before, I watched tiny Linfield College suit up a third more.

Normally, even at WSU, a coach would inherit 6-10 players in each class worthy of NFL attention. Wulff got three – two last year and one this year.

He seems to be having some luck recruiting quality athletes who, while probably not attracted by the current success of the program, are interested in playing time and that’s one thing WSU has to offer.

As Athletic Director Jim Sterk told me during the Cal game in Berkeley, it will take a large measure of patience while the program rebuilds. He suggests it might be two years away, but better days are coming.

Well, they can’t get much worse.

It’s 527.6 miles from Roseburg to Pullman, but still we go. Long-time Cougar fans are accustomed to down times. It’s a familiar feeling. In recent years, they’ve enjoyed some good times as well, including two recent Rose Bowl appearances.

At times like this, there’s no point in going into a deep funk. You just have to find something to enjoy about making the trek – and to believe the program is being rebuilt the right way.

As the Civil War looms in the distance, despite the fact we love watching the Ducks, it’s hard not to think the Beavers deserve a visit to Pasadena – after all, they haven’t been there since 1965. Mike Riley has built a strong program and we’d love watching them go head to head with Ohio State – though with more flair than their 3-0 yawner against Pittsburgh in last year’s Sun Bow.

Either way, there will be an Oregon team in the game and while the state itself has fallen on hard times, at least its gridiron fortunes are paying big dividends.

George Murdock is former publisher and editor of the East Oregonian and a loyal Washington State University alumnus.