BRIGHAM YOUNG COMES to Tulsa as an unranked team from a conference fighting to get any kind of national attention.

But Tulsa coach Todd Graham knows BYU is much more.

"When you talk about national prominence, BYU has it," Graham said on Monday.

And, after watching tape of BYU's 27-17 loss to UCLA on Saturday, Graham knows the Cougars were very close to being on a 12-game victory streak, including the last three against Pac-10 schools.

"Don't let anyone tell you different," Graham said. "BYU is a very, very good football team."

Tulsa starts a two-game homestand against nationally known college football powers with Saturday's date with the Cougars at Chapman Stadium.

Just six days later, Oklahoma's high-powered Sooners visit TU. But it is goofy for anyone to be thinking ahead to next week.

BYU has been an elite program for three decades and is back on the national scene. The Cougars have won 11 of their last 12 games, including a 30-point rout of Oregon in last year's Las Vegas Bowl.

The Cougars opened the season with a dominating victory over Arizona.

If BYU didn't play a sloppy first half at the Rose Bowl last weekend, putting itself in a three-touchdown hole, the Cougars would probably be riding the nation's longest victory streak this week.

It is one of the most important home games TU has played in recent years.

It would appear to be a winnable game against a nationally prominent college football program.

Tulsa is in the midst of a revival of football at the school, where the Golden Hurricane has gone to three bowls in the last four years.

Tulsa is one of the favorites to win its second Conference USA title in three years.

And, TU has one of the nation's most accurate and steady quarterbacks in Paul Smith.

"I think BYU comes in here one of the most underrated teams in the nation," Graham said. "Our kids are eager to play and find out where we are.

"BYU has beaten some quality teams the past couple of years. This is the kind of game you can use to measure where we are as a program."

There's little question Tulsa has established itself as one of the top teams in Conference USA, a league without a traditional football heavyweight.

Playing BYU is a different level, although the Mountain West is also struggling to establish a national college football identity.

TCU and BYU, the top MWC teams, both lost high-profile games last week.

Now, it becomes a game for survival between teams with aspirations for conference championships.

"BYU is one of the best programs in the country," Graham said. "We know the two best teams on our schedule are coming up the next two weeks.

"All you have to do is see how the national media looks at this program. We have talked about their program and where they are."

BYU has a long and storied tradition dating back to the 1960s, when former TU star Tommy Hudspeth brought winning and a wide-open, exciting style of play to Provo.

A Hudspeth assistant at BYU, Lavell Edwards, would bring BYU into full bloom as a national power in the 1970s and 1980s.

But the Cougars fell apart in the immediate aftermath of Edwards' retirement. After 28 straight winning seasons, BYU suffered three straight losing seasons.

The revival has come under coach Bronco Mendenhall, who has rebuilt the Cougars as combination power team with sophisticated passing. They've been to two straight bowl games and won 10 straight games last year to finish 15th in the national polls.

In other words, this is no routine game for the Golden Hurricane.

Tulsa was hammered for seven touchdowns in a loss at BYU last year.

"I know that game left a sour taste in the mouths of our players," Graham said. "I wasn't here but I saw the tape."

What he saw was a team capable of power football that knows how to throw the ball down the field.

Yes, the Cougars still love to throw it and score. However, BYU has a huge offensive line and powerful running backs.

Whatever the style, a return to winning has BYU thinking bigger these days.

It also gives Tulsa an opportunity to gain some national attention of its own.

Graham, just one game in, already has a well-earned reputation for not blowing smoke.

He doesn't seem shy about admitting the obvious.

"There's no doubt this is a very important football game for us," Graham said.