Rick Neuheisel was not thinking about a bowl game for his Bruins after a 59-0 loss to BYU in Week 2.

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Walking off the field after a 59-0 loss at BYU in Week 2, Rick Neuheisel probably didn't think his UCLA Bruins would be discussing a bowl game this late in the season.

"I was checking to make sure my limbs were intact," he said.

But when the Bruins play fellow 4-6 squad Arizona State on Friday, bowl hopes will be on the line.

The winner becomes one rivalry-game win from making a bowl with a 6-6 record. The loser becomes ineligible for the postseason.

For the Bruins, that means defeating ASU in Tempe and then No. 5 USC on Dec. 6.

"It's going to take a monumental effort here in the last two weeks," Neuheisel said. "It's still fun to be shooting for."

Coming off a 10-3 season, Dennis Erickson probably didn't think his team would have to discuss missing a bowl this late in the season.

But a stunning home loss to UNLV and then games against Georgia, Cal, USC, Oregon and Oregon State — "that part of our schedule ran right over the top of us," Erickson said — the Sun Devils were mired at 2-6.

Consecutive wins against the Pac-10's two worst teams — Washington and Washington State — have given the Sun Devils a bit of momentum.

"If we want to get in a bowl game, it's a must-win," he said. "That's one of the reasons you play the game, to try to get in a bowl game."

ASU would have to defeat the Bruins and then the Arizona Wildcats to make a bowl. But Erickson wasn't ready to start hyping the Duel in the Desert just yet.

"We've got to win this game — that's the most important thing to us," he said. "That's reality. And then we go from there."

Tempe native Neuheisel, who played for McClintock High School for the 1977 state title at Sun Devil Stadium, said the two teams are more similar than one would think.

The Sun Devils went to the Holiday Bowl last year and this year expected more; the Bruins lost their top two quarterbacks to injury before the season and have a first-year coach.

Both teams are "trying to become something. They had high hopes for this season," Neuheisel said about ASU. "Even though it's Year 2, I still think you're always trying to set a culture. You're trying to set a mind-set."

Neuheisel said finishing the season strong is "pivotal to springboarding into the off-season and development of the program so everybody hits the ground running for next season."

It could inch Arizona State toward what was once considered a lock.

"I think both teams are at a point in their season where they do feel some measure of momentum," Neuheisel said. "ASU has won two in a row; we've won one. It's kind of a survival game with respect to postseason hopes."