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Do you believe in sports curses?

Kyle Whittingham doesn't, favoring instead blocking and tackling.

There have been a lot of supposed hexes through the years, some that have stood the test of time, some that have been swept away, and some that presently are being threatened, everything from the Bambino to the Bobby Lane to the Billy Goat.

They don't have names, or even specific details or explanations, but, in a season that is emerging as crazy promising, the Utes have jinxes of their own to overcome. They need a little karmic rearranging, an exorcism or two, a fresh wind blowing through to clear out lingering maleficence.

You don't buy it? Maybe you're right.

But how, then, do you explain or make rational the idea that there are two teams left on Utah's schedule this season that they've either never beaten or haven't defeated since 1976? They've gone 0-19 against this week's opponent — Arizona State — and an opponent coming up in a few weeks — Washington.

Utah has tried — and failed — to beat ASU 11 straight times. That's just weird. Coaches on both sides have changed, players have changed, win-loss records have changed, circumstances have changed, league affiliation has changed, and yet the results have remained the same. That's a demon — or a Devil — that must be exorcised.

And the Utes have never beaten Washington — ever. They are 0-8 against the Huskies over a span from 1931-2012. That may seem like yesterday's news, but … it remains a matter of record. Now, all of a sudden, Washington, led by its conference-leading defense, appears to be on the rise, having beaten USC last week in Los Angeles. Going to Seattle to face the Dogs won't make the winning, the cleansing any easier.

Not saying there really are evil spirits hovering over Utah football, but … there are trends to reverse. How do you do that? Not by mixing the feather of a goose with the gooey gizzard of a rat with the eyeball of a buzzard with a dash of paprika with a cup of crow's blood.

You get the players' minds right. That's how.

Whittingham seems to be doing exactly that. He's convinced them not to put faith in anything other than their own focus and their own hard work. Not to look ahead or around, not to project too far forward or get satisfied with the success of the past few weeks. And certainly not to trust or embrace the praise of the local and national media, the faux acclaim being heaped upon them now because … well, because those media SOBs criticized the Utes last year for their shortcomings and the year before and the year before and the year before that. Take it from the man who a decade ago quoted his grandma as having said of the doubters in the press: "Piss on 'em."

A week later, he recanted, saying: "You say some things you shouldn't have said, I guess."

He's still saying them, though, in the confines of his team's locker room. We know this because the players are parroting the same line and that line is coming directly from … You-Know-Who. It's the old ploy of making everyone in and around the program feel disrespected, even — especially — when they are being respected.

That's the mind game Whittingham is playing now — and for good reason. Physically, the Utes are about as good as anyone they have yet to play in the Pac-12. Line up the rosters and you could pretty much throw a hat over all of them, talent-wise.

So, it comes down to the thick-as-a-brick part — laying out a steady plan, week by week, and preparing players to execute that plan — along with the more mysterious part — motivating those athletes to completely dial in for every game the rest of the way. Throw in the vagaries of vacillating play demonstrated thus far by teams such as Arizona State, USC, Washington and UCLA — some weeks they're great and other weeks, not so much — and the card grows even wilder.

That's why Whittingham can't afford to be having his players get all fatheaded. They're not good or superior enough to play half-assed and still beat these teams. Especially with curses and whammies and evil to beat down.

Whittingham said the other day that one of the reasons the Utes have struggled against ASU is because its defense is more aggressive than most others and gets after the quarterback, disrupting the entire offense in the process. That has to be rectified for Utah to get its work done on Saturday and continue to feed growing hopes among the fan base that 2015 could be something extraordinary.

There also are other fiends to run off — weekly Pac-12 competition that, no matter how inconsistent it is, allows for no slacking.

A start was made last season against USC, a team that has lost just four of 13 games against the Utes, with two of those defeats coming before 1917. Still, last year's stirring 24-21 Utah win at Rice-Eccles may have been a breakthrough. Even with the turmoil plaguing the Trojans' program right now, winning at the Coliseum will require the Utes' best efforts.

UCLA is a team yet to wholly define itself, but on good days presents major challenges, and Arizona is dangerous. Consider what the Wildcats did to the Utes last season at Rice-Eccles and the fact that Utah has tripped over the sofa and face-planted into the carpet against Arizona three straight seasons, losing those games by a combined 53 points.

Outsiders could toss home games against Oregon State and Colorado into the won-and-done column, but the Utes themselves, as is fitting, won't see it that way. They can't.

Not with such a glorious opportunity opening up in front of them — a shot at either the Rose Bowl or a CFB playoff spot. Talking about that so early on might bring its own bad omen, like giving utterance to a no-hitter in the seventh inning. But, curses or no, there's little harm in mentioning great intentions and promise, as long as the players themselves do the work and laser in on the devil of a foe standing right in front of them — every single week. No need for the gooey rats' gizzards, the buzzards' eyeballs or the crows' blood.

GORDON MONSON hosts "The Big Show" with Spence Checketts weekdays from 3-7 p.m. on 97.5 FM and 1280 AM The Zone. Twitter: @GordonMonson.