On the surface, Saturday screams like it is a bit of a trap game for the NC State Wolfpack football team.

Duke is 1-4, but in each of the last two weeks have played games that were better than the previous one, a sign of a team potentially figuring things out and gaining confidence.

NC State is certainly confident, and it should be feeling good. A 30-29 win over a ranked Pittsburgh squad and 38-21 triumph at Virginia validates that this Wolfpack team is, currently, among the top teams in the middle tier of the conference below the heavyweight Clemson and a few other highly regarded teams in Notre Dame, UNC, Miami and Virginia Tech.

If NC State wants to prove it belongs in the conversations about the upper echelon of the league, then it can’t lose to Duke, and history suggest that for whatever reason, Duke has been just as big a thorn in the side of the Wolfpack than any of its in-state rivals.

It’s just hard to remember because they have only played three times since 2003.