FACTS & STATS: Site: University Stadium (40,094) -- Albuquerque, New Mexico. Television: The Mtn. Home Record: SDSU 1-2, UNM 2-2. Away Record: SDSU 0-3, UNM 1-2. Neutral Record: SDSU 0-0, UNM 0-0. Conference Record: SDSU 0-2, UNM 1-2. Series Record: San Diego State leads, 20-14.

GAME NOTES: The team with the fewest wins in the Mountain West Conference hits the road this weekend as the San Diego State Aztecs take on the New Mexico Lobos at University Stadium in Albuquerque. Back on September 27th, the Aztecs set down the Idaho Vandals in non-conference play by a score of 45-17 at home in Qualcomm Stadium, a decision that still stands as the only win of the campaign for the club. SDSU has since faced off against both TCU and Air Force in conference play and has been outscored by a combined 76-17. Last weekend it was the Falcons that got the best of San Diego State in a 35-10 final in California. As for the Lobos, they went from shutting out Wyoming a few weeks back (24-0) to being held almost scoreless themselves in a 21-3 decision versus nationally-ranked BYU last week. With the loss, UNM had a two-game win streak halted and is now 3-4 on the season overall. Although New Mexico trails in the all-time series, 20-14, the squad still managed to come up with a 20-17 victory in last year's meeting. In fact, the Lobos have reeled off seven straight wins in the series and haven't lost to the Aztecs since SDSU came up with a narrow 17-16 decision in this very stadium back in 2000.

Quarterback Drew Westling put himself in harm's way a few too many times on Saturday as he finished 18-of-35 for just 128 yards and two interceptions against Air Force. Additionally, Westling was also tackles five times behind the line of scrimmage, which is why the Aztecs ended up with only 35 total rushing yards and just one trip into the end zone on a one-yard run by the signal-caller. Westling, who has been filling in for an injured Ryan Lindley (now listed as questionable for this weekend), has been trying to shoulder much of the load himself and that has left the running attack of the Aztecs wandering aimlessly. In fact, the scheme has gotten so bad for San Diego State that the team is now ranked last in all of college football with a mere 47.3 ypg on the ground. The passing attack has tried to compensate with almost 240 ypg, but that still leaves the Aztecs with a mere 287.2 ypg, which ranks the squad second-to-last in the MWC and 112th in the country. The scoring offense now 102nd nationally with 18.7 ppg.

Very few teams in college football know how to stop the Air Force rushing attack, especially as the academy pounds the ball into the line play after play. The Aztecs were no different on Saturday as they surrendered a whopping 401 yards on 77 attempts. However, SDSU's defense added a new wrinkle by giving up a passing score as well. With so many stops to be made it really shouldn't come as a surprise that someone like Corey Boudreaux was credited with 21 tackles and Andrew Preston added 18 stops. Now with 46 stops in his five appearances for the Aztecs, Boudreaux ranks among the conference leaders with his 9.2 stops per game, trailing teammate Luke Laolagi who is second in the MWC with 9.5 tackles per contest. However, recording so many stops per game really means just one thing for this group and that's a weak running defense. In fact, the program is now up to 271.2 ypg allowed on the ground, which is last among all of the Football Bowl Subdivision programs. The pass defense is much more respectable with just 166 ypg allowed (17th nationally) but much of that has to do with the fact that opponents are finding easy pickings when they run the ball instead.

Trying to make up for the loss of quarterback Donovan Porterie who is out for the season with a torn ACL and MCL in his right knee is not going to be easy for the Lobos, and they found that out against BYU last week when they failed to make it into the end zone. The team went from starter Brad Gruner to Tate Smith, with the duo combining to connect on 13-of-22 passes for 146 yards, the latter sacked three time and picked off once. Rodney Ferguson tried to keep the team moving with his 86 yards on 24 carries but it wasn't nearly enough. With all the trouble of finding a quarterback to remain in the pocket, it should be understandable that the Lobos have one of the worst passing attacks in all of college football with a mere 118.7 ypg, currently ranked seventh in the league and 112th in the country this week. However, with Ferguson itching to bring the ball out of the backfield the running game for the Lobos is a lot more respectable with 194.7 ypg, third in the MWC and 23rd nationally. Ferguson himself has 609 yards and six touchdowns to his credit thus far.

Limiting the Cougars to only one touchdown through the first half of action in Provo on Saturday was something for the Lobos to be proud of, but with the visitors forgetting to bring along their own offense it did little good. Despite limiting BYU to 11 fewer offensive plays (73-62), the Lobos still surrendered almost 100 more yards than they produced (382-285) making it that much easier for BYU to sustain drives. The pass defense has been up and down to say the least this season. On the positive side the squad has limited three opponents to 144 yards or less through the air, but then there's three other foes who threw for 321 yards or more, including Tulsa which went for 469 yards and six touchdowns in the middle of September. Add it all up and the UNM pass defense has surrendered at least three TDs in five of seven games and is now permitting 252.1 ypg. More importantly, the squad is 106th in the nation with a pass efficiency defense rating of 142.9, ahead of only UNLV among the MWC programs.

The key to this matchup will be how well the Lobos and Ferguson can keep control of the ball on the ground. As long as they can keep the chains moving and prevent SDSU's offense from getting on the field the home team should have a favorable shot at picking up the win.