PULLMAN, Wash. – Illinois football fans can forget one number, 17. It's been replaced by its evil sibling, 18.

Washington State stopped the Illini 20-13 Saturday at Martin Stadium. The loss extended Illinois' second-longest-in-the-nation skid to 18 games.

That moves the Illini halfway to Northwestern's Division I-A record 34-game skid. Bring on Middle Tennessee State.

The Illinois players didn't want to wait that long. There was a disappointment on their faces and in their voices that was different than in 1997. They thought their hard work in the off-season would pay off with a simple 1-0. Illinois hasn't been 1-0 since 1992.

"I definitely believed, truly believed, that the streak was going to end," Illinois cornerback Asim Pleas said. "Things happen for a reason. We're not going to hold our heads down. We've got to get geared up for next week. We've got to get our mentals back on track so we can really bring it to them and really prove that we are a good team, we are a team that really wants to be good."

The Illinois players know they'll be hearing about the streak this week. It's a natural reaction. Only Northern Illinois has lost more games in a row.

"I'm not going to listen to it too much," defensive tackle Garrett Johnson said. "I'm just going to get ready for Middle Tennessee."

Illinois coach Ron Turner saw an improved team, one that didn't panic when it got down 14-0 in the first quarter.

"Our guys have a lot of fight," Turner said. "Hopefully, we're gaining confidence. I never sensed a feeling of, 'Oh God, here we go again.' "

At times, Illinois looked like the team that hadn't won in more than 700 days.

Midway through the first quarter, quarterback Mark Hoekstra had the Illini moving. On first down, he went back to pass. Cougars defensive end Jonathan Nance roared untouched toward Hoekstra and blasted the Illini quarterback at the 48. Hoekstra dropped the ball and Washington State's Rob Meier scooped it up. The end had an easy stroll into the end zone for a 7-0 lead.

"We had an assignment error and he (Nance) should have been blocked," Turner said. "We gave them a touchdown and it ended up being the difference in the game."

The Illini tried to get the points back on their next possession, driving from their 18 to the 19. The drive stalled and Neil Rackers' 36-yard field goal try sailed wide right.

The Cougars went up 14-0 late in the first quarter. Kevin Brown's 41-yard run put them at the Illinois 17. Three plays later, quarterback Steve Birnbaum hit Nian Taylor near the sideline. Taylor juked past Illinois' Mike Gusich, Eric Guenther and Tony Francis.

Gusich got even on Washington State's next drive. The senior safety intercepted Birnbaum's pass and returned the ball 19 yards.

Another Washington State turnover set up Illinois' first points. The Illinois defense swarmed DeJuan Gilmore on a run and Illini linebacker Michael Young ripped the ball away. Danny Clark recovered at the Washington State 39.

Steve Havard did most of the work on the scoring drive. He opened with a 17-yard run. On first down at the 11, Havard found a huge hole in the middle of the Washington State defense and skipped into the end zone.

Down 17-10 at halftime, the Illini offense never got rolling after intermission.

Hoekstra completed 17 of 42 passes for 145 yards. His longest play went for 15 yards.

"We didn't make enough plays in the passing game to give us a chance," Turner said.

The run game worked OK. Steve Havard stepped in for departed Robert Holcombe and gained 103 yards on 24 carries. His 17-yard burst was Illinois' longest play from scrimmage.

Despite the lack of big plays, the Illini stayed close in the second half. Rackers' hit a 36-yard field goal with 5:46 left in the game to cut the Washington State lead to 20-13. Rackers had earlier nailed a career-best 46-yarder.

Following Rackers' second success, the Illini appeared to get a break on the kickoff. Taylor started out of the end zone, stopped and then got buried at the 6.

Washington State ate most of the rest of the clock on runs by Gilmore and Brown. A pass interference call against Gusich gave the Cougars a boost.

"We just missed a lot of tackles," Johnson said. "That hurt us toward the end. We had to get the ball back to the offense."

By the time Illinois got the ball back, there were just 34 seconds left. And Kordell Stewart wasn't on the Illini sideline.

Turner had a quick huddle with his team and talked about making a big play. Havard tried, gaining 13 yards and going out of bounds.

The Illini ran out of time. Hoekstra's fourth-down pass to Terrance Smalls fell imcomplete with three seconds left.

Turner didn't talk about any moral victories. He wasn't content with losing to the defending Pac-10 champs by just seven points, the closest game in his UI career.

"We came here to win a football game," Turner said. "It didn't happen. We just have to keep moving forward."