The New Mexico State football team will look to ride the momentum of a long awaited return home to their first win of the season Saturday evening during the home opener with San Diego State (2-0).when they open up play at Aggie Memorial Stadium against the Rocky Long led San Diego State.

An 0-2 start is not what any football program wants to kick the season off with, but for the Aggies, head coach Doug Martin and hist staff — and the NM State athletic department at large — these past two games can be viewed as a leap forward.

Playing big money games against two ranked opponents in the first two games of the season undoubtedly call for a harsh few weeks, but ultimately gives the Aggies an idea of their mental and physical toughness and serves as a boon for the athletics budget.

The Aggies were also able to escape this brutal stretch with almost injury free. Defensive tackle and trench stalwart Roy Lopez is likely to miss this weekend after being held out against Alabama following a injury near the end of the Washington State loss, but apart from that, the squad is close to season opening shape from a health perspective.

The games themselves were hardly pretty, though.

In the past two weeks, NM State has given up a total of 120 total points — the worst mark in the FBS — while only scoring 17. The Aggies were expected to struggle in these first two games, especially on defense after last season, but it has been a rougher ride than some many have expected offensively as well.

Being the first team to score a touchdown against a near-NFL caliber group like Alabama is something to build on, but another three turnover game after Martin harped on the importance of taking care of the football throughout the offseason (then stressed it even more following the loss at WSU) shows the state of this offense, level of competition aside.

Still, despite the score, Saturday’s showdown in Tuscaloosa was a step in the right direction, according to Martin.

“I thought we played better,” Martin said during his interview with the NM State’s Football Coaches Show. “We’ve still got some alignment issues, we’ve still got to play the ball better when its in the air… We tackled better and we played a little bit more physical.”

That level of competition will drop with San Diego State, but not astronomically, with the Aztecs entering Saturday’s matchup undefeated after picking up wins over Weber State and UCLA.

SDSU has been limited offensively, ranking in the bottom-40 nationally in both passing and rushing production (200 and 105 yards per game respectively) and failing move the ball efficiently, with a bottom-10 2.3 yards per carry average on their way to a lackluster 29 total points over two weeks.

That’s all the Aztecs have had to do on offense, though, after stymieing their opponents to the tune of seven points allowed per game — a mark tied for the fifth best in all of Division I football.

San Diego State running backs Keshawn Banks and Jordan Byrd will be familiar with the New Mexico air, with pair playing their high school ball in the central part of New Mexico. SDSU head coach Rocky Long will also make his return to a former rival, as the ninth year Aztec head man spent the 10 seasons prior to leaving for San Diego leading UNM.

The Aggies enter the game as 16 point underdogs, but will get their first real opportunity to show where their level of play is at, and Martin wants it to be high.

“I told our team — if you wan to be significant, if you want to be different than other Aggie football teams, here’s your first opportunity. Go get this win.”

Aggie Memorial Stadium will celebrate Hispanic Heritage Day during the game, and the squad will be rocking “Los Aggies” crimson helmets to kickoff their home opener, with kickoff for the actual game scheduled for 6 p.m..