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FACTS & STATS: Site: Aggie Memorial Stadium (30,343) -- Las Cruces, New Mexico. Television: AggieVision. Home Record: Idaho 1-3, NMSU 0-2. Away Record: Idaho 0-2, NMSU 2-1. Neutral Record: Idaho 0-0, NMSU 0-0. Conference Record: Idaho 0-2, NMSU 0-1. Series Record: Idaho leads, 13-4.

GAME NOTES: Losers of four in a row, the Idaho Vandals try to get back on the winning track this weekend as they challenge the New Mexico State Aggies in Western Athletic Conference action at Aggie Memorial Stadium in Las Cruces.

Idaho, which is tied with Kentucky for the fifth-longest losing streak in the nation entering play this week, is only 1-5 in 2011 and hasn't defeated another member of the Football Bowl Subdivision since taking down San Jose State (26-23) in overtime in the 2010 season finale. Last Saturday, the Vandals were stymied by the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs at home, 24-11, which means the team's lone victory this season remains a 44-14 blowout of North Dakota in the second week of the campaign.

The Aggies, winners in a 42-28 decision against New Mexico back on October 1, are shooting for back-to-back wins for the first time since October of 2008 when the squad defeated Nevada (48-45) and Alcorn State (45-10). The last time the program topped opponents from the FBS in consecutive games was in 2006 when the group defeated Utah State (42-20) and Louisiana Tech (50-23) to close out the campaign.

Last season, NMSU suffered a 34-17 loss to the Vandals, which means Idaho now holds a 13-4 edge in a series that dates back 40 years.

The Vandals offense, at least from a scoring standpoint, was nowhere to be found on Saturday as the team suffered its fifth in six tries in the double- digit setback at home. The Vandals came up with 291 yards of total offense, but with just 2-of-16 on third down plays the squad was never threatening. In fact, the only touchdown of the afternoon for Idaho came on an 81-yard punt return by Justin Veltung late in the fourth quarter and even then the offense looked poor as they failed on a two-point conversion attempt. Quarterback Brian Reader converted just 19-of-47 passes for 244 yards, was sacked twice and had three passes picked off. Veltung caught six balls for 94 yards, but he was the only highlight of the afternoon for the hosts. Reader ranks sixth in the conference in total offense with 206.3 ypg which is a decent number for the signal-caller, but the fact that the Vandals rank last in the WAC and 119th in the country in rushing with 69.8 ypg is more indicative of how poorly this unit is performing in 2011.

If not for an interception return of 53 yards for a touchdown by the Bulldogs late in the second quarter last weekend, Idaho might have had a fighting chance in Moscow but it just didn't work out for the hosts. Working against the Vandals was the fact that the defense had to spend so much time on the field to begin with. Tech rattled off 87 offensive plays, 18 more than the home team, and that had a lot to do with the Bulldogs putting together scoring drives in the second half and pulling away. Gary Walker made an impression with a game-high 15 tackles in the matchup, while Korey Toomer accounted for 10 stops and a pair of sacks. The Vandals finished with just those two sacks, which was actually much better than the team's overall production this season of just 1.17 sacks per game which is seventh in the WAC and 104th in the country right now. Without that pressure at the line of scrimmage, the pass defense has been picked apart to the tune of 284.2 ypg.

Last season the Aggies won a total of just two games, was last in the WAC and 117th in the nation in scoring with a mere 15.7 ppg, so if nothing else the team is on the right track in 2011 with 25.6 ppg (81st nationally) thus far. The squad's passing attack has been far more productive this year with 285.2 ypg, more than 100 ypg better than 2010, but it is important to remember that the competition to this point has been far from stellar. Even though Matt Christian was the second choice for quarterback coming into the season, the knee injury to Andrew Manley now has the former in the driver's seat and his numbers indicate that he might be the right man for the job after all, converting 60 percent of his attempts for five touchdowns and just a single interception in a couple of appearances. Having someone like Taveon Rogers on the other end of passes certainly doesn't hurt either, the receiver having reeled in 19 balls for an average of better than 19 yards per catch and four of the unit's 11 aerial scores.

With an extra week to prepare for the meeting with the Vandals, New Mexico State would have been smart to place more emphasis on trying to get even more pressure at the point of attack, seeing as how the Aggies are seventh in the WAC and 118th in the country this week with a mere 3.4 tackles for loss per game. If not for the four sacks NMSU managed to deliver on New Mexico in the team's most recent outing, the Aggies would be even worse off than they now are with just 1.8 sacks per game. Nevertheless, the team's efforts in that area are certainly far better than last year when the Aggies averaged just 0.75 sacks per game to rank last in the WAC and second-to-last in the entire FBS. David Niumatalolo has been a one-man wrecking crew for the program, already having notched six sacks which means his 1.1 sacks per outing is tied for fifth in the country entering this week. Of the team's 17 stops behind the line of scrimmage, Niumatalolo has accounted for seven of those while no ones else on the roster even has a pair of TFLs to brag about.

If the Vandals insist on putting the ball in the air, rather than trying to execute a reliable rushing attack this weekend, NMSU defenders will be ready, particularly Niumatalolo who might already be counting on adding to his sack total in front of the home crowd.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: New Mexico State 24, Idaho 17