The football team’s biggest spook on Halloween might be the specter of a five-game losing streak. Cornell has not dropped five in a row since the 2003 season when it finished 1-9, but the team is facing a resilient Princeton squad on Saturday after four consecutive losses to Colgate (45-23 on Oct. 3), Harvard (28-10 on Oct. 10), Fordham (39-27 on Oct. 17) and Brown (34-14 on Oct. 24).

“Brown was an interesting game,” said head coach Jim Knowles ’87 in an Ivy League media teleconference. “We played pretty well, at least defensively, for almost three quarters. Scored a couple times on defense, but just did not quite have the maturity to hold it together long enough against a very good team.”

Princeton (1-5, 0-3 Ivy) is in many ways a mirror image of Cornell (2-4, 1-2 Ivy). The Tigers are a talented team that has been plagued with an inconsistent offense and given up a few too many big plays on defense.

“Our staffs are very similar,” Knowles said. “Maybe that’s why you see the competitiveness; both staffs are not afraid to use trick plays and are not afraid to do whatever it takes to gain an advantage in some way. The matchups are fun.”

On offense, the Tigers are sorely missing the presence of Jordan Culbreath, the running back who surpassed numerous milestones last season as a junior. In 2008, Culbreath led the Ivy League in rushing and was No. 9 in the country with 102.6 yards per game, but is currently in the hospital with a blood condition. Sophomore quarterback Tommy Wornham leads the team in rushing this season with 244 yards and two touchdowns. Through the air, Wornham has completed just 54.9 percent of his passes for 898 yards, and thrown six picks and four touchdowns.Lucky No. 13?: Senior quarterback Ben Ganter looks to complete a pass in last Saturday’s game against Brown at Schoellkopf Field. The Red hopes to avoid another loss.

“I think he’s a real competitor,” Knowles said of Wornham. “He’s a dangerous guy. He can do anything as well as anybody at any time. It looks like he’s working hard at becoming consistent, but you can tell he’s got a competitive fire and that’s what makes him dangerous.”

Cornell’s offense has had its own share of problems getting on the board. Both of last week’s touchdowns were scored by the defense, and Cornell’s last offensive touchdowns were late-game short rushes by senior Stephen Liuzza out of the wildcat formation against Fordham.

“Both teams get after each other, both teams do some unique things,” said Princeton head coach Roger Hughes. “If you look at the games, there have been a number of trick plays, unique special teams plays. Sometimes it’s just the ways you match up that allows craziness to happen on the field and that’s certainly been the case with us.”

If the tricks don’t work for the Red, it might have to rely on a treat — field position provided by outstanding special teams play. Punter Drew Alston was named Special Teams Player of the Week after he neutralized Brown’s return specialist Buddy Farnham by allowing just nine return yards on four attempts. Four of Alston’s seven punts were inside the Brown 20-yard line.

“[Drew] is another guy in our special teams who has quietly gotten the job done,” Knowles said. “Drew has shown the ability to place the ball really well. He hasn’t overpowered the football but he really placed it well.”

Cornell’s own return specialist, senior Bryan Walters, seems to pass an Ivy League record in return or all-purpose yards every week. In addition to the threat of a big Walters reutrn, Princeton’s special teams muffed a snap and had a punt blocked last week in a 37-3 loss to Harvard.