Cy-Fair football coach Ed Pustejovsky didn’t have a second thought when ESPN approached him and Cypress Falls coach David Raffield about televising their game Thursday night.

“It (national exposure) is good for your kids,” Pustejovsky said. “You learn to deal with the distractions, whatever they may or may not be, but it’s a good opportunity. When it comes down to it, it’s not that big a deal.”

It is, however, the latest example of the marked change of the high school football landscape. More games are televised now than ever, both locally and nationally, providing unprecedented exposure and – maybe – pressure to succeed in front of a large, unseen audience.

The Cy-Fair-Cy Falls game, a 7 p.m. kickoff at The Berry Center, will be televised by ESPN2.

ESPN approached both schools late last winter about showcasing the game, in part because of Cy-Fair running back and now-Michigan commitment Sam McGuffie. Thursday’s exposure will be nothing new; Cy-Fair’s season opener against Stratford was aired by FSN Southwest.

There is little debate among coaches and players that increased media coverage has overwhelmingly positive ramifications.

“It can go both ways,” Raffield said. “We dealt with it (increased media coverage) a lot last year when we went to the state finals. We worked with it and got used to it.

“I think (increased coverage) is great. Anytime you can showcase a quality program, it’s worth it. High school games in this area are phenomenal.”

HERE A GAME, THERE A GAME …

There’s no shortage of places to find them, especially from the comfort of a living room.

FSN Southwest and FSN Houston, its localized offshoot for this region, are airing 10 Texas games this season in addition to a 10-game national package farmed out to FSN’s 17 regional affiliates.

FSN Southwest has carried the 5A state title games since the early 1990s, when it was known as Home Sports Entertainment. Its first regular-season broadcast was Odessa Permian-Midland Lee in 2004; additional high school-related programming includes a Friday night scoreboard show and a weekly magazine.

“Our network depends on providing local programming. You don’t get any more local than high school football,” said FSN Southwest spokesman Ramon Alvarez, who added the network plans to increase its coverage for 2008.

Two of FSN’s regional games feature Houston teams. In addition to Stratford-Cy-Fair, Klein Forest plays Klein Oak Oct. 25.

Houston’s four major network affiliates and KTBU (Channel 55) devote considerable time and space on Fridays, the weekends and the Internet to high school football.

Thursday’s game is one of at least four national broadcasts spotlighting Texas; FSN’s national package featured Euless Trinity-Odessa Permian and John Curtis Christian (La.)-Longview in September. On Sept. 15, Southlake Carroll played Miami (Fla.) Northwestern on ESPNU, one of 14 games on the ESPN networks this season.

“I think within five years you’re going to see two to three additional networks that will each offer a national game of the week,” Dave Stephenson of TITUS Sports Marketing, which oversaw the Carroll-Northwestern game, told The Dallas Morning News in September.

KEEPING MATTERS IN CHECK

The regional games were played Thursday and the national TV games were on back-to-back Saturdays, allowing the schools to skirt a University Interscholastic League rule prohibiting live regular-season telecasts of Friday night games. Its rule states, “UIL member schools shall not have a live telecast or video webcast/live videostream of a Friday night regular season football game when other schools are having interschool football games in the telecast area.”

When Tyler Lee played Cincinnati Colerain in Columbus, Ohio in 2005, the UIL forced the national ESPNU broadcast to be blacked out in Texas despite ESPNU’s then-extremely limited reach. It was shown live in the rest of the nation, including Ohio, where the Ohio High School Athletic Association granted a waiver to its rule banning live broadcasts of Friday night games.

“More than anything, the (UIL) rule is there to protect other games,” UIL athletic coordinator Mark Cousins said.

The UIL can’t change or gain exemption from rules without approval from its legislative council.

The organization takes a hands-off approach, however, when schools choose to negotiate with local, regional or national channels or networks to broadcast other nights.

“If they (member schools) make an agreement, we leave it to them,” Cousins said. “A lot of games are already played on Thursday and Saturday because of facility issues. As far as TV is concerned, schools don’t see a bad tradeoff in moving the games. We feel if they want to televise the games, that’s at the discretion of the schools.”

Some schools aren’t biting. In September, Ventura (Calif.) High didn’t allow FSN Prime Ticket to set up on its campus before 3:30 p.m. for an evening game, so the network canceled its broadcast and the game was relegated to the local cable system.

‘NO REASON ANYTHING SHOULD CHANGE’

The biggest reason this week will be easier to handle than the week of the Stratford game, Pustejovsky said, is it doesn’t include the inherent distractions that come with season openers.

Thursday’s game has enough ramifications without the presence of television. Both teams are 4-2 overall and 2-1 in District 17-5A, locked in a four-team logjam behind district leader Cypress Ridge.

“Here at Cy Falls we have an excellent work ethic,” Raffield said. “There’s no reason anything should change this week.”

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