Navy has a 15-game winning streak over Air Force and Army going into the season, but there is more talk than ever that the record streak could be jeopardy.

Just look at what the service academies are doing as a whole through four weeks of the season. They are a combined 8-3 and off to the best start since 1996. It is no coincidence that was the last time Army was good.

Air Force has been good, but has lost to Navy seven straight times. It is not for a lack of trying. The average margin of victory in those games is 5.7 points a game. Last season, Navy won on a field goal in overtime.

Many believe the Falcons (3-1) are playing better than Navy (2-1) heading into their big game Saturday in Colorado. Perhaps that is why they are nine-point favorites. Air Force was the last service academy to beat Navy, back in 2002. Since then, Navy has won a service-academy record seven straight Commander-In-Chief Trophies and has been utterly dominant.

Air Force and Army are both eager to challenge that dominance this season.

“Even the years we lost we wanted that trophy extremely bad,” said Air Force safety Jon Davis. “Every year, the Commander-In-Chief is always No. 1 on the seniors' priority [list]. That’s a big trophy to get and we look to these games, no matter what the record, no matter who’s doing good. We both have winning records. We both have really good teams.”

For the first time in 14 years, Army (3-1) also has a winning record at this point in the season. In their second year under coach Rich Ellerson, the Black Knights have shown vast improvement after years and years of struggles.

Trent Steelman looks comfortable running the offense, and the defense has been opportunistic, with a plus-9 turnover margin. Army plays Temple this weekend at West Point. Its game against Air Force is not until Nov. 6, and, of course, the finale against Navy is Dec. 11 in Philadelphia.

For the Black Knights, they have two sources of motivation this year -- coming just short of bowl eligibility in 2009 after losing to Navy in the finale to finish 5-7, and winning the trophy, of course.

“Being born into this losing culture from the outside looking in, you might not expect the players in the losing program to care or be real passionate about the game, but believe it or not we’ve been even hungrier than the other teams because we’ve wanted a winning season so bad,” said Army defensive end Josh McNary.

“The fact that we felt this school’s been misrepresented by our losing seasons in the past, we just have that urge to turn that around and allow people to see Army perceived as it was in the ‘50s. We can restore that prestige of the team.”

Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo has been there to see the Midshipmen’s success first hand. They have a 63-30 overall record in the past eight years, while Air Force is 48-40 and Army is 22-64. He, for one, is not surprised with the results from all three service academies so far this season.

“We know they have great coaches,” Niumatalolo said. “We know a lot of the players on both of those teams. It’s no surprise to me that Army’s doing better with Coach Ellerson. I know him very well. He’s one of the best coaches in the country. [Air Force] Coach [Troy] Calhoun is a great coach; we knew coming into the season they’d be very good, but we also feel like we’ve got a pretty good team.”

Right, as Niumatalolo likes to remind everyone his team is a foot away from being 3-0, after quarterback Ricky Dobbs was stopped at the goal line in a 17-14 loss to Maryland. But Navy did not play well against Georgia Southern and trailed at halftime to Louisiana Tech before winning.

Air Force came close to an upset over Oklahoma, and came from behind to beat Wyoming last week. Quarterback Tim Jefferson is averaging a career-high 6.4 yards a carry and already has a career-high five rushing touchdowns. The Falcons certainly have Navy’s attention. For all the motivation Army and Air Force may have to knock off Navy, the Midshipmen are just as motivated to keep the trophy.

“The anticipation and the desire to keep it and the desire to want to take it increases each year,” Dobbs said. “This year is the best as far as being up for grabs, and next year I assume it’s going to be the same.”