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FACTS & STATS: Site: Mackay Stadium (29,993) -- Reno, Nevada. Television: Cox Cable. Home Record: UNLV 1-1, Nevada 0-0. Away Record: UNLV 0-2, Nevada 1-3. Neutral Record: UNLV 0-0, Nevada 0-0. Conference Record: UNLV 0-0, Nevada 1-0. Series Record: Nevada leads, 21-15.

GAME NOTES: The UNLV Rebels have already beaten one opponent from the Western Athletic Conference this season and are looking for a repeat performance this weekend as they clash with in-state rival Nevada in the Battle for the Fremont Cannon in Reno.

UNLV, which opened the 2011 campaign with crushing losses against Wisconsin and Washington State on the road, a couple of opponents that outscored the Rebels by a combined 110-24, defeated Hawaii in the home opener back on September 17 in a stunning 40-20 final. However, before sitting back and enjoying an early bye in the schedule, the Rebels also welcomed Southern Utah to the desert back on September 24 and were blown away by the Thunderbirds in an ugly 41-16 decision during which the opposition picked off three UNLV passes and returned them for touchdowns.

As for the Wolf Pack, they've been on the road all this time and are one of the last teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision to enjoy the company of the hometown fans here in 2011. Nevada, which barely defeated San Jose State in the WAC opener in the middle of September (17-14), followed that up with defeats against Texas Tech (35-34) and former conference foe Boise State last weekend (30-10). Nevada is now set to play three straight and five of the next six games at home, the lone road test coming against New Mexico State later this month.

UNLV lost at home last season, 44-26, to a Nevada squad that now owns a 21-15 edge in the all-time series and has taken six in a row from the Rebels.

After putting up 40 points against a high-powered Hawaii squad a week earlier, the Rebels figured to be moving in the right direction with their offense, but apparently they let their guards down versus Southern Utah by turning the ball over a total of five times. Quarterback Caleb Herring, who had three passes intercepted and returned for TDs, converted 23-of-41 passes for 223 yards and just a single TD. If nothing else, Phillip Payne had a strong outing for the Rebels with his career-best 13 catches (second-most in school history) for 175 yards and a score. Payne, now third in the Mountain West Conference in receptions per game with 6.25 per outing, is one of only two players on the team with double-digit catches at this stage and his four TDs account for all but two of the scoring grabs for the Rebels. Averaging six yards per carry, thanks mostly to one 80-yard run, Tim Cornett has shown that he has breakaway speed coming out of the backfield, but he's averaging less than 12 attempts per game right now.

It wasn't just the fact the Rebels lost to Southern Utah the last time out, it was the manner in which UNLV seemingly rolled over and allowed itself to lose to a member of the Football Championship Subdivision for the first time since 1994. In reality, the UNLV defense could not be held responsible for how many points the Thunderbirds put on the board, simply because Herring served up far too many opportunities for the visitors to run away with the victory. Basically, the UNLV defense did its job by limiting the T'birds to just 256 yards of total offense, but the unit was done in by all the turnovers by the offense. Believe it or not, even after the awful effort against SUU, the Rebels are still even on the season when it comes to turnover margin. Where the defense really needs to step up its efforts is at the line of scrimmage and getting after the opposing quarterback because they are currently averaging just five TFLs per game (83rd nationally) and 1.25 sacks per outing (93rd) and that's just not good enough against the better teams in the league.

While Cody Fajardo continued to rest an ailing shoulder last weekend, Tyler Lantrip was asked to go it alone to begin against the mighty Boise State Broncos on the road and the signal-caller didn't fare so well. Lantrip finished the day just 5-of-16 for a mere 50 yards and an interception, forcing head coach Chris Ault to call on Mason Magleby for some support down the stretch and the backup responded by hitting all four of his pass attempts for 73 yards and a score. Rishard Matthews accounted for four catches for 84 yards and a TD, but receptions were few and far between for the Nevada receivers overall. By no means does Lantrip have it easy, stepping in for Colin Kaepernick who managed this offense with precision for so many years, his 143.0 ypg through the air and the fact that he has far more interceptions (five) than he does touchdowns (two) bearing that out.

On a positive note, the Wolf Pack finally snapped Boise State's streak of consecutive quarters with at least one touchdown, holding the Broncos scoreless in the fourth quarter, but by then the outcome had already been decided so it really didn't matter too much. Nevada limited BSU to just 329 yards of total offense, a rather impressive number if not for the fact that Broncos quarterback Kellen Moore went to the sidelines early again and allowed his teammates to play out the remainder of the outing. Brandon Marshall, who is fourth in the conference with an average of 9.25 tackles per game, rang up 14 stops for the Pack, while Brett Roy delivered a sack and two TFLs for the visitors. Brett has been a beast in the early going for the Pack with 8.5 TFLs and already five sacks in just four games, yet even those strong numbers haven't been able to get the team into the win column as often as they'd like. While the team has come a long way since giving up 69 points to Oregon in the opener, it will still be tough to whittle down their average of 37.0 ppg allowed to this point.

When this game pops up on the schedule, much of what has happened to these two teams leading up to the matchup goes out the window. However, what cannot be overlooked is the fact that Nevada has dominated the series in recent years and the team is finally getting to play at home in front of a favorable crowd, so those will certainly be factors taken into consideration.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Nevada 31, UNLV 17