The Frogs will visit Palo Alto, Calif. on Saturday hoping to rain on the homecoming parade of a Pac-10 opponent coming off a landmark win against the No. 2 team in the country. TCU will look to redeem itself after a 24-21 loss to Wyoming when the team travels to the West Coast to take on the Stanford Cardinal.

Head coach Gary Patterson said the 2-3 Cardinal, who upset the No. 2 USC Trojans 24-23 on Saturday, should be recognized as a legitimate threat in college football.

“Stanford doesn’t receive enough credit,” Patterson said. “They have good players and Coach Jim Harbaugh has done a terrific job with his players’ attitude and getting them to believe.”

The Frogs have yet to win on the road this year, but senior linebacker David Hawthorne said he expects his team to have a successful game plan where both sides can take advantage of mistakes by the opponent.

“We have to go on the road, get focused and stay focused for 60 minutes,” Hawthorne said. “We need to play in all phases of the game for 60 minutes in order to be successful in the game.”

With all of the hype around the USC upset, senior wide receiver Marcus Brock said the Frogs are more concerned about their own team than they are about Stanford’s upset win.

“We are focusing on our first win on the road, which will be a fantastic thing for this program right now in this point in time of the season,” Brock said.

Patterson said the biggest threat the Cardinal pose is the amount of athletic talent on both sides of the ball. The Cardinal offense is led by redshirt freshman Tavita Pritchard, who replaced T.C. Ostrander, who was benched last week due to a seizure. Pritchard led Stanford to 17 fourth-quarter points to win the game.

“One of the things Tavita Pritchard gives them at quarterback is athleticism and a player who can get on the edge,” Patterson said. “They sprinted out a lot more against USC than they had in the past.”

With the Frogs standing at 3-3 on the season, Hawthorne said a win Saturday would help boost the team’s confidence.

“A win would help us out to get above .500,” Hawthorne said. “It would show that we can go on the road, play against good competition and put together a good game.