Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo called it the "ultimate test" and admitted it might be the biggest non-service academy game of his eight-year tenure.
When Navy (6-1, 4-0) meets Memphis (8-0, 4-0) on Saturday night at 7 p.m. at the Liberty Bowl, it will be a showdown for first place in the West Division of the American Athletic Conference. This is the opener of a round-robin between the top teams in the West as Navy and Memphis also still must play 18th-ranked Houston (8-0, 4-0) this month.
"This is a huge, huge game. Just in terms of the implications within the conference," Niumatalolo said.