In late September when Stanford was playing Oregon State, head coach David Shaw noticed a subtle change in Davis Mills’ body language. It was a completely different look than Mills had two weeks earlier against USC when he made his first career start for the Cardinal.

“I call it when your shoulders drop,” Shaw said Wednesday. “It’s kind of like, ‘Oh, I think I can do this. And not just do it but do it really well.’ His command and his confidence was evident every play.

“Against USC, he was just kind of playing the position. Against Oregon State and every snap from there on, you could tell he was thinking, ‘I got this.’”

It’s a look that Shaw has come to appreciate as Mills repeatedly has been called on during Stanford’s injury-filled season.

K.J. Costello, the Cardinal senior starter who has been sidelined at various times this season because of thumb and concussion issues, is almost certain to sit out Saturday’s game at Washington State with yet a new injury he apparently suffered during Saturday’s loss at Colorado.

As is custom, Shaw didn’t get into details regarding Costello’s injury, but the head coach didn’t sound very optimistic. Costello has not practiced this week.

Saturday’s game Who: Stanford (4-5, 3-4 Pac-12) at Washington State (4-5, 1-5) When: 1:30 p.m. TV: Pac-12 Network Radio: 1050

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“I would say K.J. is very doubtful,” Shaw said. “Very doubtful unless something changes dramatically in the next 24 hours, so most likely he’ll be out. If K.J. can’t go, Davis is ready to go.”

Mills is 2-1 as a starter this season after quickly taking to offensive coordinator Tavita Pritchard’s system. In five games overall, Mills has completed 71 of 110 passes (64.5%) for 890 yards, with five touchdowns and one interception.

That has reaffirmed Shaw’s belief that all Mills needed was experience, something he’s gotten plenty of in the time Costello has been out.

“He’s a very even-keeled human being but he’s also motivated and he also enjoys it,” Shaw said. “He enjoys being in that pocket and finding guys and putting it where it’s supposed to be. It’s been fun watching him go from being the quarterback that was a young guy, first-time starter, to now he’s just a quarterback. And when he’s in, he’s running the show.”

Stanford (4-5, 3-4) is trying to regain its footing in the Pac-12 after losing two of its past three, including a gut-wrenching 16-13 setback at Colorado when the Buffaloes kicked the decisive field goal as time expired. The loss leaves the Cardinal needing to win two of their final three games to extend their streak of appearances in bowl games to 11 seasons.

Shaw noted that many of the problems Stanford had against Colorado were self-inflicted. On offense alone, the Cardinal picked up penalties for delay of game, face mask and a personal foul. Defensively, they jumped offside twice, were hit with another face-mask penalty and a pass interference.

Stanford also failed to hold a lead late in the fourth quarter. Colorado put together two drives in the final 7½ minutes that ended in field goals, including the game winner.

“I watch every game probably five times before we play the next one,” Shaw said. “I go back at times and watch and say, ‘What are we doing well, what do we need to keep working on?’ As I continue to go back and look at everything we’ve done, that’s the hard part, that we’re close but we don’t hit it.”

Michael Wagaman is a freelance writer.