MORGANTOWN — If a challenge is what the West Virginia Mountaineers wanted, it’s a challenge they’ve gotten. In traveling to No. 5 Cincinnati on Friday night, the Mountaineers are playing their highest-ranked opponent since No. 3 Oklahoma in the 2008 Fiesta Bowl. The game will kick off at 8 p.m. and be televised by ESPN2 at Cincinnati’s Nippert Stadium, where the Bearcats have won 10 straight games. ‘‘We are anticipating a tough football game,’’ West Virginia coach Bill Stewart said. ‘‘We have played each other pretty tough over the years.’’ Sure, just last season West Virginia rallied by scoring 13 points in the final 1:11 to force overtime in a ratings-maker for ESPN, but was ultimately defeated when tight end Alli Kazeem caught a 2-yard pass from Tony Pike to close out a 26-23 victory. Pike, of course, is the Bearcats’ one-time Heisman hopeful quarterback who has been injured and missed the last three games while backup Zach Collaros has stormed onto the stage in a big way. For the season, including three starts, Collaros has thrown for 1,229 yards, 10 touchdowns. He also has run for 311 yards and four touchdowns. Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly, who is 31-6 at the school, said early in the week Collaros would make a fourth consecutive start, but the plan was to put in a package of plays to ease Pike back into the swing of things. And, he said, when Pike’s 100-percent, he’s the guy. No question.