For No. 22 SMU, this is the one week of the year where defensive schemes aren't necessarily changed -- but they must be viewed with a sharper eye.

A defense has to be sharp when it lines up against Navy and its triple-option offense.

For the Mustangs, Saturday will be the only time in the regular season when they won't line up against either a spread or a pro-set formation. Navy's offense is in many ways considered antiquated, but for years, the Midshipmen have shown that old-school tactics still can get the job done.

SMU will enter the matchup looking to not only bounce back from a bad loss to Cincinnati last Saturday, but also looking to erase a 35-28 road loss to Navy last season. Last year's game was one the Mustangs felt they should have won in Annapolis, particularly with a 21-10 lead at the half.

It's the job of the SMU players to be ready for Navy's triple-option attack -- and it's the job of the SMU coaching staff to have the players ready. For SMU defensive coordinator Kevin Kane, this is always a game that shows a defense's mettle and discipline.

Even without all-everything quarterback Malcolm Kelly, Navy is expected to come to Gerald J. Ford Stadium and give the Mustangs a good game. Kane is hoping last week's loss to Cincinnati has lit a fire under his defense. He'll know more by late Saturday night.

In the latest "Coach Q&A," Kane spent some time with The HillTopics to discuss what it's like to prepare for Navy.

Exactly how different does a week like this get for a defense?

There's definitely different things going on, things that you have to emphasize. It's getting off blocks, taking great angles and tackling. That's the biggest thing you can do against those guys. Your scheme's going to be your scheme, and they're going to have ways to block it. They've seen every defense known to man, so they're going to have their ways to block you. It's about winning one-on-ones, taking great angles and finishing the play.

This is something we've all done in the summertime. We've repped constantly, week after week, for at least 10-15 minutes. We want to make sure the guys know exactly what their assignments are. You can never really truly prepare for this offense, because you can never really simulate what it's going to look like in practice. But I do think the comfort level with our guys and the package that we do is very high. Once we get to gameday and get past the initial shock, we settle in after that.

It's a different strategy. It's about fundamentals, how to play a cutback, how to take a great angle and how to finish a tackle one on one.

Is this one of those weeks where you look at it as just another week? Or is this dubbed "that" kind of week because it's Navy's triple option?

We play Navy every year, but at the same time, you want to push your guys and say we've got to get rolling. For us, it's about consistency, and we need to be more consistent. It's the next game, but Navy's had our number for X amount of years. Since I've been here, we're 1-1, and obviously, we want to be on the plus side of that win-loss category. We're going to just keep going with it.

How much is it bulletin board material knowing how the defense finished against Cincinnati? Are we seeing the light bulb turn on for the defense?

I think so. As a team, we were disappointed with what happened on Saturday. They're happy to put that thing to bed and move on to the next. It's about maturity, and we're getting more mature. We still need to learn to play on a higher level against a ranked opponent. The guys were upset about their performance -- and rightfully so. All of us -- coaches, players, everybody -- we all wanted to get back to work and do better.

I think it's two things: It's our performance on Saturday, and it's how we played Navy last year. We're all excited just to get back to playing.

There's no Malcolm Perry this year, so that's good news.

Yes, that's great news.

At the same time, it's still a dangerous Navy team as long as Ken Niumatalolo is coaching. They're 3-3 on the year, but 3-1 in conference. Are they still equally dangerous as last year's team?

Absolutely. They're completely dangerous. They know what they do, they do it very well, and they never quit. They were down, 24-0, to Tulane and came back to beat Tulane. They were losing to Temple, and they came back and beat Tulane. They have a never-quit mentality. They do a great job. They're coached well and disciplined in what they do. You know it's going to go into the fourth quarter. We have to keep telling our guys this game's not going to be done in the first half.

Let's put you on the spot. Of your first level (defensive lineman), second level (linebackers) and third level (secondary), against Navy, which level has to be most responsible for making that defensive machine run properly?

I think it always starts at the front. When you play a normal type of offense you see weekly, you want them to be aggressive. You want to make plays in the backfield. It's a little different when we play Navy. We want to capture the line of scrimmage. If we capture the line of scrimmage with our D-line, it'll allow the second level to run free, and it'll allow the third level to make up for what the second level did. If we can capture the line of scrimmage to start the play off, we'll be in a good position to where everyone else can run and make the tackle.

The older guys remember last year and are looking for a home victory. Is there something specifically, in your opinion, other than controlling the line of scrimmage, that your defense must do to secure the victory?

The big one for us, especially coming off last week, is we've got to be consistent. You look at last Saturday's game, and the first two drives, we didn't look like we belonged on the field at all. For most of the rest of the game, we're stoning them and they couldn't do anything. Then in the fourth quarter, they had a couple of busts. We were just inconsistent, and that's been our deal.

I'm going to preach that: If we can just be consistent and do our job every play, we're going to have a great outcome. We play very well when we have a consistent defense. That's going to be our battle cry all week. Get lined up, read your keys, do it every time, and we'll be a consistent defense.

No. 22 SMU (5-1, 2-1 AAC) vs. Navy (3-3, 3-1)

6:30 p.m. Saturday

Gerald J. Ford Stadium

TV: ESPN2