LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The final week of the college football regular season has arrived and that means so have rivalry games.
In Las Vegas, there's none bigger than the Battle for Nevada. The 50th meeting between in-state rivals UNLV and Nevada-Reno will be played at Allegiant Stadium on Saturday night.
On a three-game win streak, the Rebels will try to keep the Fremont Cannon painted red for the third straight year, making it UNLV's longest win streak in the series in 20 years.
WATCH our 2023 preview of the game that UNLV ultimately won:
“This is going to be a war," linebacker Jackson Woodard told the media on Monday. "We’re ready. We’re excited to get a chance to play this team at our place. It means everything to us.”
UNLV beat UNR in Reno last season 45-27 before falling to Boise State in the Mountain West championship.
While the 9-2 Rebels are rolling, moving up to a program record No. 21 in the AP Poll after beating San Jose State on the road for the first time since 1993, the Wolfpack are winless in conference matchups this season.
Controlling their own destiny on the path to a Mountain West title and a potential college football playoff berth, the Rebs aren't looking past UNR.
“I would definitely say we got a pep in our step, but we’re still locked in on winning this last game of the season," wide receiver Ricky White III said. "I feel like if we do that everything else will take care of itself.”
“We put a lot of work as a team to get where we are, to be in a position to play for the Mountain West championship," quarterback Hajj-Malik Williams told Channel 13 at Sunday's Raiders game. "We got to handle business this weekend against that blue team and let the chips fall where they may.”
History will be on the line for UNLV in Saturday's rivalry matchup.
A win over UNR would mean these 2024 Rebels are one of three UNLV football teams in history to reach double-digit wins and the first since 1984.
Even though they're heavy favorites, UNLV is stressing the importance of beating their in-state foe while keeping in mind that anything can happen in rivalry games.
“It has to mean something to you and if you don’t know because you haven’t been here very long it’s our job to educate them," head coach Barry Odom said. "It’s everybody in the building that’s been a part of it and understands the importance of it.”
“It means a lot to us and this program and to this city, the cannon," wide receiver Jacob De Jesus said. "For us to keep it here last year meant a lot to us and we’re going to protect it with our lives. We know it’s going to be a tough game as it always is. We know they’re going to bring it.”
The Rebels will try to improve to 10-2 when they host the 2-9 Wolfpack at Allegiant Stadium on Saturday at 5 p.m.
