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FACTS & STATS: Site: Hughes Stadium (32,500) -- Fort Collins, Colorado. Television: The Mountain. Home Record: SDSU 3-2, CSU 1-2. Away Record: SDSU 2-1, CSU 2-2. Neutral Record: SDSU 0-0, CSU 0-1. Conference Record: SDSU 2-2, CSU 1-2. Series Record: San Diego State leads, 17-13.

GAME NOTES: A couple of teams caught in the middle of the Mountain West Conference standings collide at Hughes Stadium in Fort Collins this Saturday, as the San Diego State Aztecs pay a visit to the Colorado State Rams.

The Aztecs showed some promise as they opened the 2011 campaign with three straight wins over Cal Poly, Army and Washington State, but since then the team has won just two of five outings. Last week, SDSU was handed a gift by the schedule-makers as the Aztecs thrashed New Mexico at home, 35-7, for their second win in the last three games. San Diego State is also now even in conference play at 2-2 and that has the squad in fourth place in the standings, just ahead of Colorado State which is 1-2.

Speaking of the Rams, they are coming off a bye week following a disappointing 38-35 loss at UNLV back in late October. The setback was the fourth in a row and the fifth in six outings for CSU. The Rams have a total of three wins this season, one against Northern Colorado from the FCS and the other two over New Mexico and Utah State, which have combined to produce just three wins to this point in the season.

Last year, the Rams fought hard against the Aztecs but came up just short in a 24-19 final in California. With the setback, CSU fell four games behind SDSU in the all-time series, 17-13. The Aztecs have won five of the last six meetings by an average of nearly 11 points per game.

The Aztecs had the luxury of settling in against a winless New Mexico squad last Saturday, cruising to a 28-point win at Qualcomm Stadium without much of an effort. Walter Kazee produced three rushing touchdowns in the meeting, although it was again Ronnie Hillman who did most of the heavy work with his 141 yards and a TD on 29 carries for the hosts. Ryan Lindley connected on 16- of-24 passes for another 271 yards. Lindley, one of the most successful passers in school history with more than 11,000 yards through the air, has thrown for at least 200 yards in all but one game this season and had tossed at least one TD in every game since the middle of September of last year before coming up empty against the Lobos. At 149.8 ypg on the ground, Hillman ranks second in the nation entering play this week, his 13 rushing scores easily leading the way for the Aztecs over the course of eight games.

Against one of the weakest programs in all of college football, the Aztecs pretty much had their way on both sides of the ball last weekend. San Diego State held the visitors to a mere eight first downs and just 162 yards of total offense and an average of 3.3 yards per snap. UNM was forced to punt a total of nine times, while Leon McFadden and Gabe Lemon also came up with interceptions to keep the Lobos from ever really mounting a challenge. McFadden now has a pair of picks on the season, but that's still three behind team leader Larry Parker who not only has five interceptions, he also has three forced fumbles for a program that is seventh in the nation in turnover margin with a plus-1.25 per game thus far. There have been some issues for the SDSU defense though, namely giving up 196.6 ypg on the ground which has the unit ranked fourth in the conference and 101st in the nation this week.

The growth of Pete Thomas was supposed to spur some winning feelings in Fort Collins, but so far he's been only marginally successful. Thomas is completing 62.2 percent of his pass attempts thus far for an average of just under 198 ypg, but the fact that he has more interceptions (eight) than he does TD passes (seven) has to be unsettling. Then again, most quarterbacks in his position would probably have similar numbers seeing as how he continues to have to pick himself up off the ground far too many times during a 60-minute affair. Last season, the offensive line was one of the weakest in college football, allowing 3.67 sacks per game to rank 118th in the nation and this year it hasn't gotten much better with the line permitting 3.38 sacks per tilt, which is tied for 116th. Chris Nwoke tries to give the offense another dimension with his 554 yards and six touchdowns on 123 rushing attempts, but he too struggles with the lackluster play of the offensive line.

Since opening the season with those two wins against UNM and UNC, games in which the Rams allowed a combined 24 points, the team has permitted no less than 28 points in any other meeting, which is why the squad now ranks sixth in the Mountain West and 96th in the country with a hefty 32.0 ppg allowed. The Rams have had an especially tough time trying to slow down opposing runners who have managed to gain an average of 225.9 ypg, a number which is sixth in the MWC and 114th in the country. In the first three games of the season, Colorado State allowed a combined 424 yards rushing, but in the last three that number has inflated to well over 900 yards, so obviously opponents are seeing something that they can easily exploit. Perhaps the biggest problem for the Rams is that they've had to play much of the season without an injured Mychal Sisson, widely considered one of the top defenders in the league.

As long as Hillman and Lindley are able to put their all into a game, it would be foolish to pick against the Aztecs when they are going up against an opponent like Colorado State, even if the game is on the road.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: San Diego State 34, Colorado State 17