Eric Mele, Washington State's interim special teams coordinator, has rarely trod the obvious path. He let the opportunity to wrestle at West Virginia pass in favor of playing football at a Division-III school. His father and brothers are police officers and he graduated with a degree in criminal justice, so of course he quickly became a part-time assistant at a school that takes eight-hour bus rides to playoff games and gives its assistant coaches less free gear than the lowest manager at a Pac-12 school gets.

Our story in today's paper looks at Mele's unique path to WSU and what his plans are for the Cougars special teams.

More links are after the jump.

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-- I've got my Pac-12 Picks for this weekend ready.

-- According to Chris Shaw defensive tackle Kalafitoni Pole returned to practice yesterday.

-- We also had a lively live chat on the blog.

-- Connor Halliday's absurd numbers are drawing people's attention to the Cougars.

-- Washington State will talk about the program's future today, a couple former WSU ballers got good news recently. Klay Thompson has his former coach's endorsement for a max contract and Brock Motum appears to have found his NBA home.

-- Washington's Danny Shelton is a leader to his teammates and to the freshmen he teaches in class.

-- Arizona's top two running backs are expected to play on Saturday against the Cougars.

-- Arizona State's Taylor Kelly says he feels fantastic.

-- Here are five things to know about Cal.

-- Brett Hundley's on a roll that will be tough for Colorado to slow.

-- Cal's coach says the player that prefer the frills of college football aren't for him.

-- Oregon State also has its top two running backs ready to go.

-- UCLA is wary of Colorado's successful offensive line.

-- Pride and preparation have helped a USC linebacker play through more than 200 snaps the last two weeks.

-- Utah's stud punter is one a growing number of Aussie's coming to the United State to play American football.

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