Injuries were the central topic of discussion during Monday’s press conference, most notably the potential return of running back LJ Martin, who left BYU’s 41-27 win over Iowa State early with an apparent upper-body injury.

“They’re doing great,” Sitake said when asked regarding the health status of both Martin and linebacker Jack Kelly, who has battled through an upper-body injury since sitting out BYU’s win over Arizona. “We’ll see how they progress during practice this week. So they’re not out. They’re practicing and…the fact that they’re not out is a good sign.”

Returning Martin would be a big deal with regards to BYU’s chances versus the No. 9-ranked Red Raiders. The junior running back has accounted for 789 total yards rushing this season, a full 699 yards ahead of BYU’s second-leading rusher from the running back position, Sione Moa, who hasn’t played since BYU’s win over East Carolina. Martin has also proved essential in providing key pass blocking and other leadership intangibles in BYU’s offensive attack. Kelly, meanwhile, leads the team in sacks and is third on the team in total tackles.

But it’s not just Martin and Kelly.

There’s also the prospect of the potential return of several others, such as safety Raider Damuni, who has missed BYU’s last two games and linebacker Siale Esera, who like Martin, left the win over Iowa State with his own upper-body injury.

Two players who haven’t seen the field for a while are the aforementioned Moa, along with receiver JoJo Phillips, who sustained a broken collar bone in BYU’s win over Stanford during the second week of the season. Sitake is bullish on the potential return of Phillips while proving a bit bearish on the prospect of Moa returning to the lineup.

“JoJo has been practicing with us, and he practiced with us last week,” Sitake said. “He’ll be practicing again with us this week and we’ll evaluate it and see if it’s the right thing to do for him…Sione has been slower, and I can’t really say anything until we see him in the next couple of days. But JoJo we feel really good about, and Sione probably not.”

Although most fans are only fully aware of injuries that prevent players from seeing the field, several Cougar players have battled through injury, perhaps most notably BYU outside linebacker Isaiah Glasker. Those players have perhaps seen a dip in production due to not being close to 100 percent healthy and hope to prove better fit to contribute to the team’s success after some needed rest allotted by last week’s bye.

While healing up key players is always a top priority, Sitake felt the bye week was utilized well in preparing for what looks to be BYU’s toughest challenge to date this season when traveling to take on Texas Tech.

“We accomplished everything we wanted to over the bye week, and that was great for us,” Sitake said. “We got the work in and we did game day stuff on Saturday and got some practices in. So we feel good about it.”

Top ten matchup

BYU reached a No. 8 national ranking in the AP Poll that was released on Sunday while Texas Tech was bumped up four spots to No. 9 following its 43-20 win over Kansas State. Indeed the stakes are high in Lubbock and ESPN has taken notice, and will subsequently televise the game with its top broadcasting crew of Chris Fowler and Kirk Herstreit on top of having Texas Tech as its host site for the weekly College Gameday preview show.

So yeah, there’s a lot of hype surrounding Saturday’s 10 a.m. MST kickoff, with many eyes around the country set to see what unfolds between the Big 12 Conference’s top two teams currently. But as for Sitake and his team, their focus will be on the process that has brought them to their current status.

“I’m just trying to get the team ready,” Sitake said when asked regarding the prospect of his top 10 ranked-BYU team playing a top 10-ranked opponent for the first time in program history. “I’m not a voter in the polls or any of that stuff…This will be a first for us, and I’m looking forward to the matchup, but no, I’m not concerned with all that stuff and the rankings.”