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FACTS & STATS: Site: Qualcomm Stadium (54.000) -- San Diego, California. Television: The Mountain. Home Record: UNM 0-5, SDSU 2-2. Away Record: UNM 0-3, SDSU 2-1. Neutral Record: UNM 0-0, SDSU 0-0. Conference Record: UNM 0-3, SDSU 1-2. Series Record: San Diego State leads, 22-15.

GAME NOTES: The San Diego State Aztecs try to regain their early-season form as they entertain the New Mexico Lobos in Mountain West Conference action at Qualcomm Stadium on Saturday night.

San Diego State opened the 2011 campaign with three straight wins against the likes of Cal Poly, Army and Washington State, but since then the team has dropped three of four, including a narrow 30-27 final versus Wyoming at home last weekend. With one win in three conference bouts, SDSU is currently tied for fifth place in the MWC standings with Colorado State.

As for the Lobos, a team which jettisoned head coach Mike Locksley earlier this season, the team is just one of two (Florida Atlantic) at the Football Bowl Subdivision level that has yet to win a game in 2011. Last week UNM, which last tasted victory against Wyoming close to a year ago by a score of 34-31, was shut out for the second straight week in a 42-0 decision against Air Force. Losers of 11 in a row overall, the longest current slide in the FBS, the Lobos have been outscored by a combined 160-7 in the last three games. UNM has now been shut out in consecutive bouts for the first time since 1988 when UTEP and BYU turned the trick.

New Mexico gave it a good fight last year before bowing in a 30-20 decision against the Aztecs, which means UNM now trails the all-time series by a count of 22-15. Recent history has not been kind to the Lobos who have lost 19 straight road games.

You'd have an easier time finding a needle in a haystack than trying to identify positives that came out of New Mexico's loss to Air Force last weekend in Albuquerque. B.R. Holbrook converted 17-of-27 passes for 109 yards, but was sacked twice and tossed a couple of interceptions, while Demarcus Rogers and Crusoe Gongbay combined for 117 yards on 24 rushing attempts. If not for the team's wild 48-45 overtime shootout against Sam Houston State, the stats would look even worse for the Lobos this year. Considering the team generated a healthy 28 points in the annual rivalry game versus New Mexico State, there was a short span between late September and early October in which the UNM offense actually showed signs of life. However, taken as a whole, this year's unit has been dreadful with just 13.3 ppg to rank last in the MWC and 118th in the country.

Knocking Air Force quarterback Tim Jefferson out of the game in the first half should have meant the UNM defense would be better off, but still the unit crumbled under the pressure of trying to keep up with the aggressive ground attack of the Falcons. The Lobos surrendered a substantial 335 rushing yards and six touchdowns, four of those being credited to an Air Force fullback, and while the unit could say it managed to limit the academy to just 26 passing yards, it's important to remember that the Falcons barely throw the ball to begin with. If there is one positive to find on the defensive side of the ball for the Lobos this season it is the effort again put in by Carmen Messina who, after logging a season-high 15 stops versus Air Force, is 19th in the nation with an average of 10.1 stops per outing. On a team that is second-to-last nationally with 46.9 ppg allowed, Messina is the only encouraging aspect of the defense right now.

For the third time this season, Ronnie Hillman was named the Mountain West Conference Offensive Player of the Week, sharing the honor with Wyoming quarterback Brett Smith, but ironically enough the running back and his SDSU teammates actually lost to Smith and the Cowboys by three points last weekend. The nation's leading rusher with 151.0 ypg, Hillman registered 224 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries, one of those attempts stretching 99 yards to set a new MWC record. Thanks to Ryan Lindley, who converted 13-of-27 passes for 247 yards and a couple of touchdowns, Hillman was able to add a 71-yard TD catch to his stat line as well. Obviously Hillman is a lethal weapon when he gets his hands on the ball, but the Aztecs also showed that even though their prized back could generate more than 300 yards of total offense, the squad still couldn't count on a win. Doing all of the hard work and getting little credit is the SDSU offensive line which is opening holes for Hillman and keeping Lindley standing up straight, the group allowing just 0.86 sacks per game which is second in the conference and 11th in the nation.

The Wyoming offense looked like a well-oiled machine more often than not against the Aztecs last Saturday night, the Cowboys allowed to generate 500 yards of total offense while converting 10-of-19 third-down attempts. Logan Ketchum and Larry Gibbs tried to slow down the Pokes, the former posting a sack and a forced fumble and the latter accounting for three tackles behind the line of scrimmage, but those efforts were still not enough to bring the Aztecs back. SDSU allowed Wyoming to record a respectable 159 yards and a couple of touchdowns on the ground, which is a yardage total that falls far below the 214.1 ypg (110th in the nation) that the Aztecs have been giving up this season. However, a closer look inside the numbers explains why San Diego State has been so weak in that department, having given up 403 yards to Army (the top running team in the country) and 320 yards to Michigan (eighth), so maybe the run defense isn't really all that bad for San Diego State right now.

Going up against the top rusher in the country and one of the more accomplished passers in the conference, the Lobos have virtually no shot at even keeping this game competitive.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: San Diego State 38, New Mexico 10