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FACTS & STATS: Site: Mackay Stadium (31,545) -- Reno, Nevada. Television: None. Home Record: UNLV 2-1, Nevada 0-1. Away Record: UNLV 0-1, Nevada 0-2. Neutral Record: UNLV 0-0, Nevada 0-0. Conference Record: UNLV 0-1, Nevada 0-0. Series Record: Nevada leads, 19-15.

GAME NOTES: Losers of four straight stretching back to last season, the Nevada Wolf Pack try to get themselves back on track this weekend as they battle in- state rival UNLV for the coveted Fremont Cannon at Mackay Stadium in Reno.

The Wolf Pack has gotten progressively better from an offensive standpoint in the first three games of this season, but that's only because the squad was shut out by 23rd-ranked Notre Dame in the opener (35-0) and then suffered setbacks to both Colorado State (35-20) and was downed by Missouri at home last Friday night by a final of 31-21. Nevada, which doesn't catch another bye in the schedule the rest of the way, will begin Western Athletic Conference play versus Louisiana Tech next week.

As for the Rebels, aside from their 38-3 blowout win against Sacramento State in their first game of the season, every contest has been a close call, decided by three points or less. Last weekend, the team opened Mountain West Conference action with a 30-27 setback to Wyoming on the road, the team's second loss in the last three tries and their 20 consecutive conference road loss as well. In between that and a 23-21 defeat at the hands of Pac-10 foe Oregon State, UNLV posted a 34-33 triumph versus Hawaii at home, marking the first one-point victory for the program since 2002.

Last season, the Pack captured an overwhelming 49-27 win against UNLV in Las Vegas, giving Nevada four straight wins in the series and a lead of 19-15 over the Rebels. Prior to this current run by Nevada, the Rebels had strung together five straight victories of their own.

Omar Clayton converted 26-of-43 passes for 260 yards and a touchdown last weekend against Wyoming, but he also tossed a pair of interceptions and the Rebels suffered four turnovers overall in the narrow conference loss. In addition to the 18-yard TD catch by Ryan Wolfe, the Rebels also picked up TDs by running back Channing Trotter and quarterback Mike Clausen. With the TD pass to Wolfe, Clayton now has at least one touchdown pass in 13 straight games, the longest streak among MWC quarterbacks at the moment. Making Clayton look that good has been the job of Wolfe primarily because he is the one who ranks second in the conference and 10th in the nation with an average of 7.8 catches per game and is also second in the MWC with 96 ypg receiving as well. Unfortunately, the Rebels can't seem to get out of their own way at times and are now ranked seventh in the league and 108th nationally in terms of turnover margin at minus-1.5 per game.

UNLV's defense had trouble stopping Wyoming backup quarterback Austyn Carta- Samuels who was in for Robert Benjamin and proceeded to throw for 234 yards and three touchdowns on his way to being named the MWC Co-Offensive Player of the Week. The Rebels did manage to limit the home team to 7-of-17 on third down and thwarted both of its fourth-down tries, but still the visitors couldn't get over the hump. Pass defense has been the biggest issue for UNLV to this point, allowing opponents to post 255.5 ypg, which is second-to-last in the conference and 101st in the nation after four games. Getting a strong push at the line of scrimmage has been a problem as well because the squad is averaging only 4.75 tackles for loss per game and that too is second from the bottom in the MWC and tied for 87th nationally. Regarded as one of the top defenders in the Mountain West, Jason Beauchamp registered the team's only sack last week and had what some say was his best game of 2008 against this same Nevada team with a fumble recovery, 11 assisted tackles and 10 solo stops.

The Wolf Pack lost another game last week, dropping a 31-21 decision to Missouri at home, but perhaps more importantly the squad lost running back Vai Taua for the foreseeable future with a dislocated elbow which he suffered when trying to field a punt early in the first quarter. Without Taua the offense was left to lean on Colin Kaepernick who completed 17-of-28 passes for 146 yards and a touchdown, while Luke Lippincott took over the running responsibilities with 114 yards on 23 carries. While Lippincott should be able to handle the punishment with being the primary back now for the Pack, Taua's efforts had brought an average of 6.5 ypc and a couple of touchdowns in what amounted to two games for the back. Having to reassess the offense will not be an easy transition for Kaepernick who, despite being named the WAC Offensive Player of the Year in 2008, still gets rattled easily when the system does not operate smoothly.

Last year in the third game of the season, the Wolf Pack met with Missouri and was crushed on the road in a 69-17 final, so at least this time around Nevada made the score a little more respectable. The Pack didn't give up much in terms of yardage on the ground, allowing a mere 78 yards on 34 attempts, but the secondary was scorched for 414 yards and three touchdowns once Blaine Gabbert got into the swing of things. The pass defense in the first three games for Nevada has been beaten up time and time again and now ranked 118th in the nation with a lofty 312 ypg allowed. In terms of pass efficiency rating, no defense in the FBS is worse than Nevada with a ranking of 203.21 after three games. The team has managed to do rather well with 7.7 TFLs per tilt, first in the WAC, but turnovers are causing all sorts of havoc on both sides of the ball with the team ranked 119th in the country with a margin of minus-3.0 turnovers per contest.

Nevada head coach Chris Ault has been bringing the Fremont Cannon home to Reno for a number of years now, but that was while the Rebels were one of the cellar dwellers in the MWC. Considering how well UNLV has performed this season, combined with the loss of Taua for the Wolf Pack, expect to see UNLV finally getting back into the win column in this important rivalry matchup.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: UNLV 31, Nevada 24