SCENE SETTER
* San Diego State enters the final quarter of the regular season and starts three consecutive games with Mountain West, West Division foes when the Aztecs play host to UNLV on Saturday.
* It was announced today that the contest will be broadcast by ESPN2.
* The Aztecs continue to control their own destiny in a quest to win their 22nd conference championship. SDSU is currently one-game behind division leader Fresno State.
* The Aztecs and Rebels are meeting for the 28th time with SDSU owning an 18-9 series lead. San Diego State has won the last four encounters by a combined score of 153-48 (38.3-12.0) and seven of the last eight meetings.
* In San Diego, the Aztecs are 11-3 against the Rebels, with victories in the last eight games played at SDCCU/Qualcomm Stadium. UNLV's last victory against SDSU in the venue came on Nov. 25, 2000.
* San Diego State has won seven consecutive home games (5-0 this season) and is 20-3 at SDCCU Stadium dating back to Oct. 3, 2015.
RECAPPING THE NEW MEXICO GAME
* San Diego State rebounded from its first loss in 57 days with a dramatic 31-23 comeback victory in Albuquerque, N.M., last Saturday.
* The Aztecs had four starters return from injury to play on the offensive side of the ball - WR Ethan Dedeaux (leading team in receptions and receiving yards prior to his injury), QB Christian Chapman (all-time winningest quarterback, 24-6 starter with four fourth-quarter game-winning drives), FB Isaac Lessard (has the 15th most snaps played this season among FBS FB despite missing five games) and RB Juwan Washington (averaging 121.6 rushing yards per game this season; preseason Maxwell Award Watch member).
* San Diego State overcame a 9-point fourth-quarter deficit to win, its largest in the final period since overcoming an 11-point deficit at San José State on Nov. 9, 2013.
* SDSU head coach Rocky Long has now been on the winning sideline of this game each of the last 15 times (five as the SDSU head coach, two as the SDSU defensive coordinator and eight as the UNM head coach).
* With the win, San Diego State clinched a winning season for the ninth straight year, which is the second-longest streak in program history and the longest since a 17-year stretch from 1961-77.
* The Aztecs won their fourth game of the season when trailing in the fourth quarter.
* San Diego State held its ninth straight opponent to under 400 yards of total offense, which is the fourth-longest active streak in FBS play.
* The Aztecs held New Mexico to just 142 yards of total offense, the fourth fewest allowed by SDSU in the Rocky Long defensive coordinator era (since 2009).
* SDSU held New Mexico to just 41 passing yards, the seventh-fewest allowed by the Aztecs since at least 1996. Six of the seven fewest passing yards allowed since 1996 by the Aztecs have occurred over the last five seasons (since 2014).
FROM THE FILM ROOM (through games of Nov. 3 all Film Room numbers provided by Pro Football Focus)
* Senior QB Christian Chapman played in his first game since Sept. 8 and put together the best overall performance of his NCAA career. His game grade of 91.0 Saturday was the best of his career and ranked fifth among all FBS QBs this week. Chapman thew for 10.4 yards per attempt when kept clean and his NFL passer rating of 123.9 when kept clean ranked tops in the MW this week.
* Junior RB Juwan Washington returned from injury and recorded two critical long TDs on the day, the second of which helped secure the victory. He gained 87 of his 95 rushing yards after contact (92 percent) on Saturday.
* San Diego State's most dominant run blocker on the day was senior FB Chad Woolsey. Woolsey had the best run blocking grade (84.6) among all FBs in the nation this week.
* Junior TE Kahale Warring recorded receptions against five different New Mexico defenders on Saturday. Over the last two weeks, Warring is the highest graded TE in the country. His overall grade the last two weeks combined of 80.4 ranks first in the entire FBS among TEs with min 10 targets.
* Junior CB Luq Barcoo had outstanding results vs New Mexico. Barcoo's overall grade in week 10 of 81.8 ranked first among MW CBs. On the day, Barcoo allowed zero receptions on three targets and recorded his first career interception and a NFL passer rating allowed of 0.0 when targeted in coverage. On the season, Barcoo has allowed just 11 receptions on 22 targets (50 percent catch rate) in his coverage for 135 yards and a passer rating allowed of 50.4.
* Junior LB Kyahva Tezino had yet another impressive all-around performance. He doubled his sack total for the season with three more on Saturday, bringing him to six on the year. Tezino in total recorded eight defensive stops vs New Mexico, tied for the 2nd highest total of his season. Tezino is currently the 11th-highest graded LB in the FBS (88.8) and second in the MW. His 56 total defensive stops this year are 3rd most among all FBS LBs.