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FACTS & STATS: Site: Falcon Stadium (46,692) -- United States Air Force Academy, Colorado. Television: CBSCSN. Home Record: SDSU 2-1, Air Force 2-1. Away Record: SDSU 1-1, Air Force 1-1. Neutral Record: SDSU 0-0, Air Force 0-0. Conference Record: SDSU 0-1, Air Force 0-1. Series Record: Air Force leads, 19-10.

GAME NOTES: Trying to avoid an 0-2 start in Mountain West Conference play for the first time ever, the Air Force Falcons prepare for a Thursday night battle with the San Diego State Aztecs in Colorado.

Air Force, which has not lost two straight conference home games since 2006, is coming off a difficult 59-33 loss to Notre Dame last Saturday in South Bend, the defeat snapping the team's brief two-game win streak. Prior to the back-to-back wins over Tennessee State (63-24) and Navy (35-34 in overtime), the Falcons bowed to TCU in the conference home opener, 35-19, so already the academy is having to play catch-up.

As for the Aztecs, they too were taken down by the Horned Frogs in their league lidlifter last weekend, 27-14. The defeat was the second in a row for SDSU after the program opened 2011 with three straight wins (Cal Poly, Army and Washington State) which was the first time that had happened in three decades. The Aztecs, who play three of their next four games at home, have just two more road games overall this season (Colorado State and UNLV) so the schedule should be in their favor for the most part.

San Diego State slipped by with a 27-25 win at home in the annual meeting last season with the academy, but Air Force still maintains a healthy 19-10 advantage in the all-time series.

The Aztecs got off to a very slow start against TCU last week, the team's first score of the meeting coming on a 16-yard TD pass from Ryan Lindley to Gavin Escobar with 5:29 remaining in the third quarter. Lindley finished the outing a mere 15-of-41 for 201 yards and a couple of touchdowns, but he also tossed three interceptions which kept the Aztecs from giving the Horned Frogs a real fight. The other issue with the SDSU offense was that Ronnie Hillman managed a mere 55 yards rushing on 20 attempts, far below a season average of 132.2 ypg at this point in the campaign which has him ranked first in the MWC and fifth in the nation. Since starting the season with monumental efforts against the first three opponents against whom he scored a total of eight touchdowns on the ground, Hillman has come up empty in the scoring column in the team's two defeats and has totaled just 164 yards rushing on 41 attempts in those two efforts. Lindley may not have the same dynamic targets down the field that he had in 2010, but that's still not enough reason for him to be completing just 48 percent of his attempts at this stage.

The San Diego State defense was tested quite a bit by the Horned Frogs, the unit being left on the field for more than 10 minutes into the fourth quarter alone, which makes the defeat somewhat understandable. On a positive note, the Aztecs did pick off a couple of passes and recover a pair of fumbles in the meeting which means the unit now has forced 16 turnovers through the first five games, equaling the team's entire effort from 2010 when they finished the campaign 86th in the country with a turnover margin of minus-0.46 turnovers per contest. Defensive back Larry Parker has been key in that turn- around thanks to four interceptions in the last three games and because he and the rest of the SDSU secondary has been so tough, opponents are averaging just 172.6 ypg through the air which makes the Aztecs pass defense tops in the Mountain West and eighth in the country heading into play this week. Unfortunately, opponents are also well aware that SDSU is giving up a hefty 229 ypg on the ground, so perhaps they are designing their attacks accordingly.

Even though he is now the all-time winningest quarterback at Air Force, Tim Jefferson could do little to keep the academy from falling prey to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on the road on Saturday afternoon. Jefferson, who has 24 victories and is now fourth on the list for wins by a starting MWC quarterback, converted 12-of-24 passes for 137 yards and a score, not to mention an interception in the lopsided loss. Even though the Falcons are coming around in terms of passing the ball, the program still attempted 60 runs, which resulted in 363 yards and a pair of TDs versus the Irish. To no one's surprise, the Falcons are again one of the top rushing teams in the country (second) with 364.2 ypg and that has allowed the program to reach eighth in the nation in total offense with 523.8 ypg as well. Obviously the academy spreads the wealth when it comes to running the ball, but still Jefferson is a huge catalyst when he chooses to put the ball in the air and perhaps catch opponents off guard.

By the end of the first quarter in South Bend the Falcons were trailing 21-3 and it only got worse from there as the hosts put together one of their most impressive offensive efforts in recent memory. Notre Dame torched the academy for 560 yards, an average of more than eight and a half yards per snap even though the home team controlled the action for less than 28 minutes. Air Force managed just two tackles for loss, while Jon Davis tallied a team-best 12 tackles in the losing cause. Stops behind the line of scrimmage haven't been a strong suit for the Falcons this season by any means, the team averaging just 4.8 TFLs per game to rank seventh in the Mountain West and 98th nationally. From a stats standpoint, Air Force is a bit more accomplished in terms of sacks with two per game, ranking them second in the league and 51st in the country, but take away the six sacks registered against South Dakota in the season opener and the numbers don't look remotely as favorable. Stopping the run has been an issue as well, the Falcons ranked last in the country as they allow 235.2 ypg after five games.

Even though the Aztecs might be the more fashionable choice in this meeting, assuming that Hillman will break out of his minor funk, as long as Air Force can control the tempo by moving the ball on the ground there's no reason why the academy can't come up with the victory.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Air Force 27, San Diego State 21