It's like pitting a starving Rottweiler against a de-clawed kitten ˜ the outcome is isn't tough to judge.

It's not smart to count your chickens before they're conceived, but I'm going out on a limb with this one ˜ the SIU football team won't struggle with the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Saturday.

OK, so it's a sturdy limb. It comes with reason, though.

Aside from the Salukis muddling through the first quarter of their 35-28 win over Indiana University, they dominated the Hoosiers. It was the Salukis' first Division I-A win in 23 years and the Gateway Football Conference's first-ever win over a Big Ten team.

They were faster, stronger and hit harder, making IU look like the lower-division team. SIU made a statement out of a BCS team.

But this UAPB team is no Big Ten squad.

This is a team from the Southwestern Athletic Conference, a conference the Gateway has posted an 11-1 all-time record against.

Their emblem doesn't even resemble a lion on first glance. Their town, from what I've been told, is far from aesthetic. The SWAC's teleconference sounded more like an improv skit gone wrong.

So, naturally, the Salukis should be in for a breeze of a game. Another cupcake in the making.

Right?

Don't tell any SIU football players that. They won't dummy-down any of their opponents¬ ˜ even if they go from the BCS to a lesser-known team.

"We've got Arkansas-Pine Bluff (on the schedule)," senior center Will Justice said. "APB, UAPB, whatever their initials are, that's who we're worried about right now.'

Each week is a tougher opponent, a taller task.

On paper, the Golden Lions are everything but a tougher opponent. Luckily, the Salukis have the right mindset.

It's the mindset any winning team must have ˜ the toughest game of the season is the next game on the schedule, even if it is against a Division-II directional state university at such-and-such.

Coach Jerry Kill pounds the toughest-opponent-yet mantra into his players.

"When they walk on the field, they'll look as good as anybody we'll play all year," Kill said.

Junior cornerback Craig Turner is a prime example. He said he's been watching his copy of game tape on DVD nonstop. His sight is set.

He isn't overlooking Pine Bluff. He isn't overlooking his own team's abilities, either.

"We have to play to the ability we can, not our opponents," he said.

That should be all it takes.