Only four days after the ACC lacerated the foundation of Big East football by stealing away Syracuse and Pittsburgh, the two conferences are already set for on-field battle.

Suffering a 30-19 loss in Raleigh last season, Cincinnati (2-1, 0-0 Big East) will be searching for payback against N.C . State (2-1, 0-1 ACC) in the finale of a Thursday night home-and-home series. The expected sellout at Nippert Stadium prepares to wear all black in anticipation of Cincinnati’s first primetime Thursday night home game in nearly three years.

“We’re going to their place, which is a hostile environment,” wide receiver Tobais Palmer said. “Word on the street is that they owe us one.

“We just have to be ready for them.”

As State plays at Cincinnati for the first time in school history, injuries and underachieving play have put the Wolfpack in an underdog position. Palmer, one of the major bright spots early in the season, said the term ‘underdog’ is absent in State’s locker room.

“That’s what [Cincinnati] thinks,” Palmer said. “They think they’ve got us figured out, but we’re going to do what we have to do.

“We just have to handle business and come back home with a ‘W.'”

And to handle business, the Pack has to overcome traveling during a short week while continuing to accumulate injuries. With defensive end Art Norman and linebacker Terrell Manning going down during last Saturday’s South Alabama game, State’s ailing defense faces an even larger challenge to contain the fourth-best scoring offense in the country.

 ”We’re beat up right now,” Palmer said. “We’re trying to get our bodies right, and we just have to come out here and focus by fighting through the pain.”

One of the most vital pieces of that banged-up defense is redshirt senior linebacker, Audie Cole, who recorded five tackles and one sack a year ago against quarterback Zach Collaros and a Cincinnati offense that has grown since last September.

“[ Collaros ] is quick, he can throw the ball, and he did a good job against us last year,” Cole said. “He’s just more experienced. The running back is good, the offensive line is better, so everyone has just improved a little bit.”

Cole also made note of a crucial factor for State’s defense – getting off of the field on third downs. Cincinnati, who leads the Big East in third down conversions, has the overwhelming advantage on paper, as the Pack defense is 91st in the country at stopping teams on third down.

“[Not stopping team’s on third downs] gets frustrating, but I’m not really worried about it,” Cole said. “We’ve been good on third down in the past, even though we’ve been struggling lately.”

Fifth-year head coach and Cincinnati native, Tom O’Brien, said 2011 has not been a kind year for Cole and the rest of the defense.

“It’s been a tough season to play defense around here,” O’Brien said. “Our defensive coaches have been playing the little Dutch boy, putting fingers in the dike right now.”

Although the task of stopping the Bearcats’ offense appears daunting, O’Brien made mention of how defensive backups are continuing to learn after receiving an impromptu crash course from the defensive coaching staff.

“Part of the problem we’ve had is not being able to execute the defense,” O’Brien said. “When [backups] start the year off on the scout team, they aren’t getting coached in the same way. Then we have to coach them up on the sideline. That causes some headaches.

“But as Bill Parcells says, ‘it is what it is.'”

As many eyes focus towards an injury-plagued defense, the last 90 minutes of football for the offense gives hope State can leave a mark on Cincinnati’s traditionally mediocre defense. Mike Glennon , who matched Phillip Rivers as the school’s all-time leader in single game completion percentage, has seven touchdowns and one interception in the past three halves of play.

“From halftime of Wake Forest through now, for a guy that’s only played three games, it’s been a pretty remarkable stretch,” O’Brien said. “The good news is he can be better. He can be better than he is now because he works at it and he has the talent to be a better quarterback if we can protect him.”

With the whole country watching, Glennon and the offense may just need another remarkable effort to help their defense.