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FACTS & STATS: Site: University Stadium (39,224) -- Albuquerque, New Mexico. Television: The Mountain. Home Record: NMSU 0-2, UNM 0-3. Away Record: NMSU 1-1, UNM 0-1. Neutral Record: NMSU 0-0, UNM 0-0. Conference Record: NMSU 0-1, UNM 0-1. Series Record: New Mexico leads, 67-30-5.

GAME NOTES: Squaring off every year since 1946, the New Mexico State Aggies and the New Mexico Lobos add the latest installment to their overwhelming series this weekend as the programs clash in Albuquerque.

There's a new wrinkle to this year's matchup however, with New Mexico letting go of head coach Mike Locksley on September 25 and replacing him on an interim basis with George Barlow. Locksley stepped into a situation with UNM that was difficult to begin with on the field, but he certainly didn't ingratiate himself to the folks in Albuquerque given some of his off-the-field issues either.

Before being let go, Locksley saw his Lobos suffer an ugly 48-45 overtime loss to Sam Houston State at home, the defeat being the fourth in as many games this season and the seventh overall for the program which currently stands as the longest slide among programs in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Locksley, who was hired in December 2008, posted a dismal record of just 2-26 during his tenure before being ushered out.

As for the Aggies, they haven't had much success in recent years either, winning just once thus far in 2011 and once all of last season in 12 tries. The lone victory this year came against Minnesota (28-21) which is only 1-3 to this point, so that's not saying much either. Last weekend NMSU opened the Western Athletic Conference schedule at San Jose State, an opponent that had owned the nation's longest slide at 13 in a row, yet it was the Spartans who secured the 34-24 triumph, their first in 11 conference attempts.

In a series that dates back to 1894, UNM owns a 67-30-5 edge in the relationship, even though NMSU posted a 16-14 win last season for its second straight triumph over the Lobos.

With quarterback Andrew Manley now on the shelf for the rest of the season due to a knee injury, the Aggies turned to Matt Christian to try and get them past San Jose State last weekend. Christian connected on 17-of-28 passes for 238 yards and a touchdown, was sacked once and tossed an interception which left NMSU on the outside looking in even as the signal-caller contributed another 58 yards and a score on the ground as well. Taveon Rogers contributed with a huge effort as he converted five passes into 120 yards and added another 67 yards on kick returns, while running back Kenny Turner accounted for 129 yards and a TD on 17 carries as well. Even though Turner had a strong game on the ground for the Aggies, he is still pretty much an afterthought on offense given that he's averaging just 45.3 ypg. The Aggies as a whole are producing just 85.0 ypg on the ground and that's seventh in the WAC and 109th in the nation currently. The passing attack is slightly more acceptable with 282.5 ypg, but those are numbers produced out of desperation and trying to keep pace with the competition.

While Turner was trying to give the Aggies a viable running threat on Saturday, the NMSU defense was having its own issues with trying to slow down San Jose State ball carriers. Specifically, the Aggies allowed Brandon Rutley to gain 209 yards and score twice on 33 rushing attempts. San Jose State quarterback Matt Faulkner stepped up and torched the New Mexico State pass defense for another 236 yards and two TDs as well. Courtney Viney was responsible for a game-high 14 tackles for the Aggies, making a total of 12 stops unassisted. Donyae Coleman leads the program in tackles per game with close to 10 per outing, but most of those hits are coming down the field after opponents have gained significant yardage. Where the Aggies really need to put more emphasis is at the line of scrimmage because the group is averaging only 3.25 tackles for loss per game and that's seventh in the league and 117th in the country heading into the fifth week of the campaign.

Tarean Austin converted 13-of-22 passes for 145 yards and two touchdowns for the Lobos in their matchup with Sam Houston State at home over the weekend, but even so the young signal-caller still took a seat on the bench as B.R. Holbrook stepped in to lead a furious comeback bid in the second half. Holbrook converted 19-of-30 passes himself for 289 yards and a couple of scores as well, but regardless of who was under center the leaders in the receiving corps were Ty Kirk with 13 catches for 127 yards and Deon Long who recorded 209 yards and three TDs on nine receptions. Kirk and Long are currently in a tie for third place in the MWC in terms of catches per game with six each, but the latter has managed to do much more with his catches overall with an average of 118.5 ypg (first in the league and 10th nationally). Unfortunately, until the Lobos learn how to better protect their quarterbacks (3.5 sacks allowed per game) it won't matter all that much how many yards receivers are able to generate.

Last season the Lobos had the worst run defense in the FBS, permitting an unsightly 250.2 ypg, and against the Bearkats on Saturday it appeared UNM had learned nothing from the numerous mistakes they'd made in 2010. Sam Houston State running back Tim Flanders erupted for 194 yards and a staggering five touchdowns all by himself for the visitors as they recorded a whopping 373 yards on 60 rushing attempts. So far this year the run defense overall for the Lobos is ranked seventh in the Mountain West Conference and 110th in the country with 225.5 ypg allowed. As if that were not bad enough, the pass defense is permitting another 292.8 ypg and when you put the two of those together you can see why New Mexico has the top three tacklers in the MWC at this point, because there's just so much action going on around them and keeping the unit on the field for far too long. If not for the mere two touchdowns allowed to Colorado State in the opener, the scoring defense (43.3 ppg) would be in complete disarray if it isn't already considering it is ranked 119th in the country.

It is tough to anticipate how the change at head coach will effect the play of the Lobos, but if everything remains the same on the field it means UNM will have a tough time of it yet again this weekend.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: New Mexico State 27, New Mexico 17