The Colorado Springs Switchbacks understand that taking on the Colorado Rapids on the road Tuesday is a large step up in competition.

Knowing that inspires them as the Switchbacks hope to prove they can stand toe-to-toe with a Major League Soccer team.

“It’s a good opportunity for us to show what we can do against the top team in the MLS,” defender Josh Suggs said. “We want to put in a good showing for ourselves and for the franchise.”

They get their chance at 7 p.m. at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park when they play in the fourth round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The contest is a rematch of last year’s fourth-round game that saw Colorado Springs flirt with an early lead before falling 4-1.

Both franchises are enjoying strong starts to their seasons. The Switchbacks (7-2-2) are in second place in the United Soccer League’s Western Conference – after first-place Vancouver downed Swope Park 3-2 Sunday to move past them – and have been at or near the top of the table all season.

The Colorado Rapids are off to a terrific start, going 6-0-1 at home for an 8-2-4 record that put them atop the MLS with 28 points. Dallas also has 28 but has played two more games.

A big question concerning the Switchbacks’ chances is whether the Colorado Rapids, coming off a two-week break and missing Albania forward Shkelzen Gashi (Euros), will be at full strength and perhaps a little rusty.

“We’re a better team than we were last year and it is unclear who the Rapids may play (on Tuesday),” coach Steve Trittschuh said.

Jermaine Jones (on the U.S. Copa America team) and Luis Solignac lead the Rapids with three goals and two assists apiece. Monument native and defender Bobby Burling (one goal) has 10 appearances this season but is out five weeks after knee surgery.

The Rapids host the Chicago Fire on Saturday and want to regain their momentum with a tuneup win over the Switchbacks.

“It is definitely something we can continue when we get back,” reserve Marlon Hairston said after a 1-1 tie against Eastern Conference-leading Philadelphia on May 28.

Coach Pablo Mastroeni said his team wanted to approach the game the same as a league contest.

“The focus for us this year has been on how do we continue to improve as a team,” Mastroeni told ColoradoRapids.com. “How we continue to improve in those little areas we feel we’re deficient in, how we approach the game from a mentality standpoint, and understanding that this team is the best team in the USL.”

“They’re going to come out hungry, and they play a good brand [of soccer], so it’s going to be important for us to really match that intensity early and try to impose ourselves on the game as much as we can.”

The Switchbacks hope to deny that chance and record the biggest nonleague victory in the second-year franchise’s history. They have an opportunity to become the seventh USL or USL Pro (former league name) team to upset an MLS team in the fourth round (tickets $15, parking free).

The winner’s round of 16 foe will be announced Thursday and will play June 29. The Rapids’ best Open Cup finish was second in 1999.