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FACTS & STATS: Site: Joe Aillet Stadium (30,600) -- Ruston, Louisiana. Television: ESPN Reg, Altitude 2, CST. Home Record: NMSU 2-3, LaTech 2-2. Away Record: NMSU 2-4, LaTech 5-2. Neutral Record: NMSU 0-0, LaTech 0-0. Conference Record: NMSU 2-3, LaTech 5-1. Series Record: Louisiana Tech leads, 6-4.

GAME NOTES: Leaders in the Western Athletic Conference standings, the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs try to close out the regular season on a high note as they entertain the New Mexico State Aggies in league play at Aillet Stadium in Ruston.

Through the first five games of the season the Bulldogs had just a single win, but since losing to Hawaii at home the first of October, the team has been on an absolute tear with an exciting six-game win streak. Last weekend the team held on just long enough to capture a 24-20 win over Nevada in Reno to move to 5-1 in conference. Despite the loss the Wolf Pack is already bowl eligible and now so are the Bulldogs with seven wins in 11 tries.

As for the Aggies, they have a 13-game schedule this year which means they would have needed at least seven wins to be considered for the postseason, but since they have just four victories and two games to play, all they can play for is pride. Last week NMSU stepped out of conference to tangle with BYU and was blown out at LaVell Edwards Stadium, 42-7, the team's fourth loss in five games.

LaTech has taken six of the 10 all-time meetings in the series, including a 41-20 final last year which made it four in a row.

Matt Christian hooked up with Austin Franklin on a three-yard TD pass play in the second half last week against BYU, knotting the score at 7-7, but from there the Cougars ran away with the home win. Christian finished the meeting 12-of-23 for a mere 98 yards, while backup Travaughn Colwell stepped in to convert 7-of-11 passes for another 61 yards, but he was taken down for two sacks which dropped the team's net rushing total to just 90 yards on 37 attempts. The passing offense has been rather productive this season, despite all the uncertainty at the quarterback position, with Christian carrying much of the load with his 14 touchdowns and 54.0 percent accuracy. Turning himself into one of the top all-around performers in the WAC, Taveon Rogers leads the way with 48 catches for 920 yards and nine TDs for the Aggies.

The New Mexico State secondary was out of its league while trying to slow down the Cougars and Jake Heaps as he cranked out 238 yards and four touchdowns. Unfortunately, the run defense was touched for 173 yards and two scores as well, which means nothing was running right for the Aggies. However, Donyae Coleman again made his presence known as he made an interception for the visitors in the lopsided loss. For most of this season the Aggies have been very soft on defense and that's why the group is now 114th in the nation in points allowed with a hefty 37.3 ppg being produced by the opposition. NMSU's pressure at the line of scrimmage has certainly seen better days, the team coming up with just 4.1 tackles for loss per outing which is last in the WAC and 116th in the country.

Louisiana Tech laid low for the first 50 minutes of the meeting with Nevada, the Bulldogs notching just a 29-yard field goal by Matt Nelson through the first three quarters. But in the fourth frame LaTech came alive with three touchdowns, all of them from quarterback Colby Cameron who had scoring tosses to Quinton Patton (nine yards), Myles White (14 yards) and Taulib Ikharo (eight yards). Cameron finished the meeting 25-of-45 for 355 yards and survived a couple of sacks, while Patton reeled in seven passes for a game- high 162 yards. Cameron is hitting on 56.5 percent of his pass attempts for 237.2 ypg and has tossed just one interception on 138 attempts, while posting 10 TD strikes. Because Cameron has kept from throwing too many picks, LaTech is now 13th in the country in turnover margin with plus-0.91 turnovers per outing.

Heading into the meeting with Nevada, one of the better running teams in the nation, the Bulldogs were ranked first in the conference and 15th nationally with just 105.2 ypg allowed, but that changed slightly as the Wolf Pack charged up 253 yards on 57 attempts. On a positive note, LaTech only allowed a single TD on the ground which is quite uncommon when giving up that many yards. Adrien Cole stood out for Tech with his game-high 17 tackles, two coming behind the line of scrimmage and one being a sack for the Bulldogs. After 11 games the Bulldogs are giving up just 118.6 ypg on the ground which still has them ranked first in the league and 20th nationally. The pass defense has been much more lenient, allowing 264.9 ypg (seventh in the conference and 102nd nationally), but much of that has to do with the fact that opponents have to start trying to gain big chunks of yards when the clock is working against them.

Even though the Bulldogs probably have a place reserved for them in the postseason, it wouldn't hurt to keep up the pressure and close out strong against a weaker conference opponent like the Aggies.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Louisiana Tech 38, New Mexico State 21