AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo.(AP) -- The triple-option offense of Air
Force is Army's biggest challenge, not the higher altitude or
the thunderous crowd.

That's the message first-year Army coach Rich Ellerson tried to
convey to the Black Knights, who face the Falcons on Saturday.

Sure, the crowd will be noisy - always is for a
Commander-in-Chief's Trophy contest.

And yes, Air Force, at close to 6,700 feet, is quite a bit
higher in elevation than West Point, N.Y.

But those are simply obstacles out of Army's control.

"None of those are the challenge," Ellerson said. "The challenge
is Air Force's football team, and that's where our focus is. Any
of those other things are just a distraction and we are not
going to spend 30 seconds on those things."

Instead, the Black Knights (3-5) spent their bye week revisiting
the basics and breaking down film of the Falcons (5-4, 4-2
Mountain West).

Not that there's much to examine. These two teams know each
other quite well, meeting for the 44th time.

They run a similar style of offense and have a healthy dose of
respect for one another.

"I've never been involved in football games that are more
intense than service academy games," Air Force coach Troy
Calhoun said. "More than anything else, because of the regard
and respect you have for each other ... Ultimately, there's a
pretty decent chance that there are guys on our sideline that
are going to be paired with guys on their sideline in another
area of the world at some point in the future."

Ellerson is looking forward to his first taste of a service
academy game as the coach of Army.

"It's the spice to the meal, if you will," said Ellerson, who
took over the team last December. "We have a great deal of
respect for this coaching staff and for those players
individually and collectively as a program. They have chosen a
path similar to our own and we have great respect for that."