Today   ● Who: Arizona (1-7, 0-5 in Pac-10) at Washington (1-7, 0-5)   ● Where: Husky Stadium, Seattle   ● When: 1:30 p.m.   ● TV: None   ● Radio: 1290-AM and 107.5-FM

SEATTLE - It was so quiet at usually raucous Husky Stadium that you could have heard a tear drop on a damp, dreary night in October 1998. Quarterback Ortege Jenkins had just somersaulted into the end zone, flipping head over heels past a pair of Washington defenders for the winning touchdown in an improbable 31-28 Arizona victory. Kili Lefotu was a 14-year-old football fan at the time, watching the game in the living room of his Riverside, Calif., home. "That was so cool," said Lefotu, the starting right guard for a UA team that will try to beat UW for the second straight time this afternoon. "They played it over and over." A lot has changed in six years. The 1998 win would be the impetus to a 12-1 season - the best in UA history. But the Cats have not had another winning season since, and would lose four in a row to the Huskies in improbable fashion before taking last year's contest 27-22 in Tucson. The 1998 loss sent the Huskies into a tailspin, and cost Jim Lambright his job. Rick Neuheisel promptly was lured from Colorado, and two seasons later, UW would defeat Purdue in the Rose Bowl to cap an 11-1 season. Fast forward to 2004: Arizona and Washington are 1-7 and winless (0-5) in the Pac-10. The Huskies, like the Wildcats last year, will go through a coaching change. Keith Gilbertson, ever the company man, has agreed to step down after the season. Mike Stoops is in his first year trying to resurrect a UA program that has not been to a bowl game since '98. "All I know is that 10 years ago, these two programs were the top two in the Pac-10," Stoops said. "It goes in cycles, and hopefully we're on an upward cycle." The ghost of Jenkins certainly looms at venerable Husky Stadium. But so do those of Marques Tuiasosopo, Cody Pickett, Andrae Thurman and Reggie Williams. It was Tuiasosopo who clinched a 35-32 UW home win in 2000 with a 2-yard run - two plays after the Cats were flagged for a phantom face mask penalty on third-and-nine. In 2001, also in Seattle, Pickett did his best Tuiasosopo impersonation on a quarterback keeper to score the winning touchdown with 13 seconds left to cap a 10-point outburst in the game's final four minutes. Thurman was at the center of controversy in 2002, drawing a personal-foul penalty after Arizona had gained an important first down with the clock winding down and UW faithful heading to the exits. Instead of running out the clock, the Cats were forced to punt. One play later, Williams turned a simple slant pattern into an 80-yard scoring pass from Pickett for a 32-28 win. "We were so lucky to win those games," Gilbertson said of the '01 and '02 thrillers. "The difference for a couple of years was Reggie Williams, and he's not here anymore." Last year's Arizona win snapped a streak of four losses by an average margin of 4 1/2 points to the Huskies. The last six games in the series have been decided by a total of 26 points. "Every year, we play them well," Arizona safety Darrell Brooks said. "It usually comes down to the wire." Despite all the off-the-field distractions this year, today's game boils down to one thing: avoiding the Pac-10 basement. The loser likely will finish last in the conference, a fate that befell Arizona last season, and a spot Washington has never experienced since the league expansion in 1978. "We're two teams that are in transition right now, and we have a lot to play for," Brooks said. "Say what you will, but trying to stay out of the basement of the Pac-10 is going to add that extra motivational factor." One person sure to pique the Huskies' attention is UA halfback Mike Bell. Bell ran for a career-high 222 yards and touchdowns of 69, 67 and 37 yards in the come-from-behind victory. "I knew Mike Bell was sensational, but he was electrifying that night," Gilbertson added. The win snapped a 13-game conference losing streak at home for the Cats, and also halted a school-record eight-game losing skid. The Wildcats need a win today to avoid matching that 2003 streak. "They don't want the same results as last year," Bell said of the Huskies. "They're probably going to do whatever it takes to make sure it doesn't happen again." Today ● Who: Arizona (1-7, 0-5 in Pac-10) at Washington (1-7, 0-5) ● Where: Husky Stadium, Seattle ● When: 1:30 p.m. ● TV: None ● Radio: 1290-AM and 107.5-FM