What little difference a year makes.

To Connecticut coach Randy Edsall, the West Virginia that traipses into the Huskies' Rentschler Field Saturday looks a lot like the 2007 edition that was ranked No. 4 when these teams met in late November.

"I think they're very comparable," Edsall said yesterday of first-place Mountaineers (5-2, 2-0 Big East), who remain unranked and unheralded in contrast to this game a year ago, when they were 9-1, a few votes shy of No. 3 and about to catapult themselves into the national championship picture with a 66-21 blowout of then-No. 20 Connecticut.

"They're really starting to hit their stride right now," Edsall added, referring to the Mountaineers' 34-17 pasting Thursday of Auburn. "They're starting to hit on all cylinders, which is scary for the rest of us here in the Big East. But I think they're very comparable to what they were a year ago."

The Huskies enter this week at a virtual No. 30 in The Associated Press' Others Receiving Votes -- where West Virginia is No. 26, about 16 points behind Maryland at No. 25. South Florida, loser of two of its past three conference games, is the only Big East team in this week's Top 25 at second-to-last.

The Cincinnati-West Virginia game Nov. 8 at Mountaineer Field has been scheduled for 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPNU. A limited amount of tickets remain. ... Edsall said it would be a game-time decision whether he would again go with Trinity High graduate Cody Endres, who started their 40-16 victory Saturday against Cincinnati, or revert to previous starter Zach Frazier, who practiced Sunday despite a concussion that kept him out against Cincinnati. ... Mountaineers coach Bill Stewart pronounced the Mountaineers healthy, including backup quarterback Jarrett Brown, who, despite a bruised throwing arm and hip, was nearly placed on the onside-kick return "hands" team Thursday. ... Stewart said for the first time that part of offensive tackle Ryan Stanchek's absence in the spring stemmed from leg phlebitis, an inflammation of veins.