In case you missed it, not only did Oakland Raiders coach Lane Kiffin get fired, but former UCLA offensive line coach and offensive coordinator Tom Cable was named interim coach.

True freshman Tony Dye was UCLA’s nickel back, replacing Courtney Viney as UCLA looks to improve its third-down defense.

UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel said practice was expectedly on the sloppy side with it being an installation day, but he was pleased with the effort and did not get the sense the Bruins were in any way, shape or form overlooking Washington State.
On the injury front, Neuheisel said receiver Marcus Everett (toe) was “doubtful” to play against Washington State. Tailback Aundre Dean (ankle) returned to practice after missing the last two games.
Also, starting left tackle Jeff Baca sat out practice with an illness, but Neuheisel said Baca should be back Wednesday. Micah Kia took over the reps with the first offense.
Starting right tackle Nick Ekbatani also took reps with the second team offense at center, a necessity since backup center/guard Micah Reed is out for a week or two with a torn MCL. Mike Harris took some reps at right tackle with the first team, but only because Ekbatani needed some rest.

From what I understand, UCLA coach Ben Howland is out on the recruiting road this week, seeing 2010 small forward prospect Harrison Barnes of Ames (Iowa) High and Turkish import Deniz Kilicli, a big man at Mountain State Academy in West Virginia.

Because the Bruins play Saturday night, UCLA’s coaching staff will use Friday night as a day out recruiting. I should hear later in the week about UCLA’s targets for this day out, but the reason the coaches are going out is because of timing.
With kickoff being 7:15 p.m., many of the team meetings will take place Saturday morning and afternoon, so it gives the assistants time to get away to watch games Friday.

Perhaps you saw it over the weekend, where UCLA researchers claimed to discover the largest prime number, something that is 13 million digits long.
Then, I was on campus Monday, and saw a sign for discounts in the student store based on the football game. Yes, a sign similar to the one I posted last week on the blog.
The deal is for two touchdowns, folks get 10 percent off on the Monday following a game. Three touchdowns, and folks gets 15 percent off, and it goes up to 25 percent off for five touchdowns.
Well, two of the signs I saw (didn’t take a picture this time) posted the savings for the weekend’s game was 20 percent.
Now, I wasn’t a math major, but UCLA scored 31 points, which included three field goals and a two-point conversion for returning a blocked extra point. So, by my math, and from watching the game, UCLA scored three touchdowns …worth 20 percent?

From what I’m hearing, Rancho Verde of Moreno Valley hoopster Michael Snaer, a guard, will visit UCLA this weekend and go to Kansas the weekend of Oct. 17 before making a decision.

UCLA will host at least one player on an official visit this weekend in Chris Hubbard from Columbus (Ga.) Carver High.
As for Hubbard, he has offers from Alabama-Birmingham, South Florida, South Carolina, Mississippi State, Duke and UCLA.
From what I’m hearing, it will hard to get Hubbard to leave the east coast.

Here is the notebook I wrote for today’s paper, basically bringing up the question of whether or not UCLA needs a win badly, and how Washington State should be the elixir.
On a side note, people are emailing me about the health of Raymond Carter’s knee, since he hasn’t factored into the offense the last two games.
Just to re-iterate what I’ve reported several times in the last two weeks, Carter is healthy, and he has been for the last two games. But the coaching staff decided to give other running backs a try.

It is not pretty when it comes to the national rankings, and I’m not talking about UCLA.
Washington State, statistically speaking, is not good.
Here’s a few tidbits:
The Cougars’ only when is against Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA) Portland State. The losses are to Oklahoma State (39-13), California (66-3), Baylor (45-17) and Oregon (63-14).
Also, out of 119 teams, the Cougars rank:
117th in scoring defense (44.4 ppg)
118 th in rushing defense (269 ypg)
106 th in total defense (436 ypg)
118 th in turnover margin (minus 2.6 per game)
92 nd in rushing offense (120.8 ypg)
96 th in total offense (322.4)
103 rd in scoring offense (19 ppg)
113 th in sacks allowed (3 per game)