Utah’s Saturday night clash with Stanford could be a tone-setting game for the rest of their season as the Pac-12 pecking order begins to take shape.

The Utes (4-0, 1-0) enters this weekend’s tilt at Rice-Eccles Stadium ranked in both major national polls (No. 20 in AP Poll, No. 18 in Coaches Poll) and the sole undefeated team in the Pac-12 South. While it’s still relatively early in the season, a win over Stanford (3-2, 2-1) only would help establish Utah as a legitimate contender in the conference.

“There are still two or three weeks left before you really get a feel of who is who and where you are at, not only with your opponents but also with yourself,” Utes coach Kyle Whittingham said. “I think this is going to be the stiffest challenge of the year. I said that about our opponent two weeks ago, and I think this one exceeds that one.”

ESPN’s Football Power Index tabbed the Utes for a total of five wins this preseason. A victory this weekend would keep the Utes unbeaten and give them five wins before they’ve reached the middle of the season with pivotal conference games looming.

Of course, the Utes don’t have the luxury of looking at any one game as a defining game. Their remaining schedule includes conference games against nationally ranked foes USC, Washington State and Washington as well as dates with Arizona State, UCLA, at Oregon and Colorado.

“They’re not Arizona. They’re a different type of style,” junior strong safety Chase Hansen said about Stanford. “For me, I try to look at it as another game just a different type of team. You’ve got to bring it every week. The times you look at teams differently — bring it this week, don’t bring it that week — that’s when you slip up in the Pac. That’s when you can fall.”

Stanford features arguably the most dominating player in college football this season in running back Bryce Love, a 5-foot-10, 196-pound product of North Carolina. Love leads the nation in rushing yards (1,088 in five games) and ranks third in all-purpose yards (218.60 per game).

Most of the Utes’ focus this week has been on slowing down Love and containing his explosive running ability. Love’s 11 longest runs this season have combined to cover 591 yards. He has six rushing touchdowns of 50 yards or more.

“If we can come downhill as a linebacking corps and just blow up the holes and the pullers — they like to pull — and guys are running to the ball, I think we’ll be good,” Utes senior linebacker Kavika Luafatasaga said. Another key “is just wrapping him up, holding on for dear life and just letting other guys come and finish the play.”

While Whittingham wouldn’t say whether Tyler Huntley even practiced all this week, all signs point to senior quarterback Troy Williams starting his first game of the season this weekend. It will be his first in Utah’s new offensive system under first-year quarterback coach and offensive coordinator Troy Taylor. The Utes scored an average of 35 points through their first four games, though three of those games came against nonconference opponents who enter this weekend with a combined record of 3-13.

The Utes certainly have showed a more dynamic passing game than recent seasons. Huntley became the first back-to-back 300-yard passer since 2008 earlier this season. Eight receivers have at least two catches this season, and Darren Carrington II enters this weekend ranked sixth in Football Bowl Subdivision in receiving yards per game (121.3).

“They’ve always been creative offensively,” Stanford coach David Shaw said. “They’ve always had that physical mentality. They’ve always been a great running team and then find a way to do something schematically to take advantage of what you do defensively.

“So I would say this year it’s just the versatility that they have on the offensive side. You see the receivers being effective. You see the running game being effective with multiple backs. You see the athletic quarterback being able to hurt you with his legs. There’s just so many different things that you have to be able to account for that that’s enough to keep a defensive coordinator up at night.”