1. No letdown

Head Coach Willie Taggart was disappointed with how his team returned to the practice field on Tuesday, saying, “I think our team got too many pats on the back” after the Louisiana-Lafayette win.

But Saturday isn’t a practice situation, and there’s only so much Taggart can control as far as whether his team shows up to play or not.

2. Not a track meet

WKU has averaged more than 44 points a game in its last two meetings with North Texas. The Mean Green, though, won both of those games. In short, it was ugly.

Defense stepped up last week, giving up 351 total yards when the Toppers’ average was 400 a game. The unit also surrendered just 21 points, well below its season average of 36.9 points per game. That sort of effort repeated should be enough to handle North Texas.

3. Let the environment help

For just the third time this season, WKU will play at home on Saturday. But for the first time this season, fans will attend in support of a winner.

Expect Houchens-Smith Stadium to be more full, more rowdy and more noisy than it was in games against Indiana and Louisiana-Monroe. So the Toppers should let the situation play into their hands. This group has never really had all the noise created in its favor, so how it reacts to support — as weird as that sounds — will be crucial.