FACTS & STATS: Site: Falcon Stadium (46,551) -- Colorado Springs, Colorado. Television: None. Home Record: SDSU 2-2, Air Force 5-0. Away Record: SDSU 2-2, Air Force 3-3. Neutral Record: SDSU 0-1, Air Force 0-0. Conference Record: SDSU 3-2, Air Force 5-2. Series Record: Air Force leads, 16-9.

GAME NOTES: Winners of back-to-back games for the first time since 2005, the San Diego State Aztecs try to push the envelope this weekend as they contend against the Air Force Falcons in a Mountain West Conference bout in Colorado Springs. Last Saturday, the Aztecs tripped up UNLV on the road with a 38-30 victory. The win came on the heels of a another close call, a 27-24 victory against Wyoming at home. While this is the final regular-season game for Air Force, SDSU still has home dates versus TCU and BYU on the horizon, which means there's still a chance for the program to make it to the postseason. As for the Falcons, who are already 8-3 on the season and 5-2 in league action, they posted one of their biggest wins in recent memory with a 41-24 triumph against an overrated Notre Dame program that has now lost two games to service academies in the same season for the first time in more than six decades. With the win, Air Force has won two in a row and five of its last six outings overall. The Falcons lead the all-time series with San Diego State by a count of 16-9, but it was the Aztecs who posted a 19-12 victory in last year's meeting at Qualcomm Stadium.

Kevin O'Connell threw a pair of touchdown passes in the first quarter on Saturday, eventually leading the Aztecs to an eight-point win over UNLV on the road. O'Connell, who added 31 yards rushing, converted 17-of-23 for 196 yards and the two scores as he survived three sacks and suffered an interception. Not only did Brandon Sullivan run for a team-best 70 yards on 10 attempts, he also led the group with six catches for 68 yards in the win. O'Connell has been carrying the weight of the world, or at least that of the SDSU world, on his shoulders this season. He's completed 59 percent of his pass attempts for 225 ypg and 11 touchdowns and has been picked off only six times. Just as importantly O'Connell, who is the school's all-time leader in rushing at the quarterback position with more than 1,000 yards to his credit, is second this season with 267 yards on 97 attempts and has made his way into the end zone seven times. Because O'Connell is not afraid to take a hit now and again, the offensive line has not been able to protect him as well as they may have liked, permitting 2.9 sacks per game to rank eighth in the conference and 103rd in the nation.

Needing some insurance down the stretch to make sure that UNLV was not in a position to steal away a win, Matrell Fantroy came to the rescue for the Aztecs with an interception with just over a minute to play in regulation. But he wasn't done there because he raced 55 yards in the other direction and into the end zone for SDSU. With Fantroy's pick, the Aztecs have now registered at least one in each of the last nine games and have already exceeded their entire total from a season ago with still three more games to play. Even though the pass defense has permitted 232 or fewer yards through the air in each of the last four contests, the secondary is still being looked at as one of the faulty parts of the team, currently ranked 106th in the country with an average of 270.4 ypg surrendered. Take away the 400-plus passing games by both Washington State and Cincinnati and the defense would paint a much brighter picture for the Aztecs, who are now 105th in the nation and last in the MWC with 452.9 ypg allowed.

After watching what the Naval Academy did to Notre Dame a week earlier, the Falcons followed the same blueprint as they crushed the Fighting Irish in the worst loss for the squad against a service academy in 44 years. Chad Hall continued his assault on over-confident defenses as he ran for a game-high 142 yards on 32 carries, while Shaun Carney changed the pace a bit with 10-of-16 passing for 120 yards and a couple of touchdowns, not to mention a third score on the ground for the accomplished signal-caller. Even though the Falcons aren't the top rushing team in the nation this season, the offense is actually better for it. New head coach Troy Calhoun has made it fashionable to open up the offense for the Falcons, allowing Carney to take shots down the field and run a few trick plays to keep defenses guessing. With 273.9 ypg on the ground, fourth in the nation this week, Air Force is still a ground-based group, but getting eight passing touchdowns from Carney adds a whole new wrinkle to the attack, as does the mighty Hall who not only leads the MWC with 114.9 ypg on the ground and has 12 rushing scores, he's also the leading receiver on the team with 43 grabs for another 457 yards and a TD.

Still reeling from their loss to Navy, the Fighting Irish were caught off-guard by the Falcons last week in all facets of the game. Air Force limited Notre Dame to a mere 58 yards rushing on 38 attempts and just 304 yards overall. The Irish controlled the ball for less than 26 minutes and converted only 4-of-15 on third down, not to mention 2of-5 on fourth down when desperation started to set in for the once-proud program. John Rabold, who on one play split the offensive line and came at QB Jimmy Clausen untouched, finished with nine tackles overall, 2.5 TFLs and an interception that he returned 19 yards. Thanks to a laughable rushing attack by Notre Dame, the Falcons have dropped their average of yards allowed to just 134.2 ypg on the ground and are consequently giving up just 343.6 ypg of total offense, 35th-best in the nation this week. While Drew Fowler leads the way in overall tackles with 98 over 11 games, Rabold has produced more significant stops with 15.5 TFLs and five sacks. Thanks to Carson Bird and his six interceptions, opponents are now thinking twice about trying to go over the top against the Air Force defense.

Running the ball as much as they do, the Falcons would be wise to continue their ground assault in order to keep the ball out of the hands of O'Connell. Knowing that this will be the last time it takes the field for quite some time, expect to see Air Force to make a statement in its regular-season finale.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Air Force 31, San Diego State 20

Saturday, November 17th, 2:00 p.m. (et)