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FACTS & STATS: Site: Falcon Stadium (46,692) -- USAF Academy, Colorado. Television: CBS. Home Record: Army 3-1, Air Force 2-2. Away Record: Army 0-4, Air Force 2-2. Neutral Record: Army 0-0, Air Force 0-0. Conference Record: Army 0-0, Air Force 1-3. Series Record: Air Force leads, 31-13-1.

GAME NOTES: Shooting for their 18th Commander-in-Chief's Trophy title, the Air Force Falcons welcome the Army Black Knights to Colorado this weekend for a battle between service academies.

The Falcons are coming off one of their most dominating conference wins in a number of years, beating up defenseless New Mexico on the road, 42-0. The shutout was the first for the Falcons since blanking Wyoming (10-0) back in 2009 and was the first time the team managed to hold an opponent scoreless on the road since taking down Colorado State (24-0) in Fort Collins in 1997.

As for the Black Knights, they registered their highest scoring output of 2011 last Saturday afternoon with a 55-0 thrashing of Fordham in West Point. The victory snapped a two-game slide by Army and was just the third in eight tries by the team this season.

Air Force dominated the Knights in last year's meeting, 42-22, which means the Falcons now own a 31-13-1 edge in the all-time series between the two academies. Air Force has won five in a row over Army and 13 of the last 14 encounters, helping the squad build an 18-3 mark versus the Black Knights at home over the years.

Air Force, which defeated Navy, 35-34, in overtime earlier this season, could wrap up the round-robin competition between the academies for the second consecutive year should the team take care of business this week at home.

Already the most dominant rushing team in the nation heading into action last week, the Black Knights raised the stakes even higher as they hosted Fordham at Michie Stadium. Despite the field being snow covered, the Knights still managed to rumble for a massive 514 yards and scored six times on 60 rushing attempts. Raymond Maples recorded a game-high 159 yards on 10 carries, while Max Jenkins recorded a pair of TDs on just five totes. Jenkins converted just one of his two pass attempts on the day, leading to a 30-yard TD for Anthony Stephens. Obviously the passing game is not something the Knights invest much effort in, averaging a paltry 49.6 ypg through the air which is easily the lowest average in the nation, but should the team get Trent Steelman back in the huddle after suffering an ankle sprain, perhaps there might be a few more balls tossed in the air. Then again, when you're a program that leads the nation in rushing with 369.0 ypg and has registered 28 TDs on the ground, is there ever a reason to fully deviate from that approach?

While the Black Knights were marching up and down the field at will in front of their home crowd, the defense for the academy was locking down a Rams program that managed a mere six first downs and 86 net yards of total offense. Needless to say Army bolstered its seasonal stats on both sides of the ball, but the Knights have to remember that this was a Fordham team that entered the weekend with just one win in seven opportunities and was already one of the lowest scoring teams at the Football Championship Subdivision level. According to the stats for the Black Knights, opponents have gotten progressively weaker over the course of games this season, starting out with a combined 68 points in the first quarter and closing out with just half that many points in the fourth. Steve Erzinger, who has appeared in all but one of the team's games this season, is by far the top tackler (73) and also paces the program with 7.5 tackles for loss and three sacks.

Mike DeWitt ran for a career-high four touchdowns, three of them in the first half, as the Falcons crushed the New Mexico Lobos in Mountain West Conference action at University Stadium in Albuquerque last Saturday. DeWitt carried the ball 15 times for 64 yards for the Falcons as they generated a hefty 335 yards and six scores on the ground in the rout. Connor Dietz, who stepped in for an injured Tim Jefferson at quarterback, covered a game-high 87 yards and scored once on six carries as the academy snapped a three-game slide. Like Army, the Falcons are a team that runs first and occasionally thinks about passing the ball, averaging 326.9 ypg on the ground (third nationally) and just 149.0 ypg through the air (109th in the country). However Jefferson, who holds the school record for wins by a quarterback and ranks fourth all-time in Mountain West history for career victories with 25, has changed the perception of Air Force being only one-dimensional. Problem is, the Falcons now have to figure out whether or not he'll take the field this weekend, a consideration that will change the approach of the offense considerably.

As strong as the offense was for the Falcons on Saturday in New Mexico, it was actually a fumble recovery in the end zone by Austin Briehl that started all the scoring. Granted, it wasn't a defensive score, but it was just another example of how well prepared the visitors were. The defense for the academy wasn't half bad as it limited the Lobos to only 223 yards of total offense on 55 snaps, although New Mexico did convert 6-of-12 on third down, which is something that went against Air Force on the day. The Falcons managed to register a pair of sacks and a couple of interceptions last weekend, yet this is still a group that ranks seventh in the conference and 95th in the country in sacks with just 1.5 sacks per outing. Coming up with stops in the opponents backfield has been a huge concern for the Falcons because they're simply not coming away with enough impact plays, recording just 3.75 TFL per game to again rank seventh in the league and tied for 117th in the nation entering play this week.

The regular starting quarterbacks for both of these teams might be in question leading up to the matchup, but still the Falcons have more talent on their side and that should be enough to get them into the win column and allow them to keep the trophy that they fight for each year.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Air Force 35, Army 21