New Mexico’s ultimate football showdown — the Rio Grande Rivalry — takes place in Albuquerque this Saturday, with potential season defining implications for both UNM and New Mexico State on the line.

NM State hopes to get on track after suffering a third straight error-filled loss against SDSU last weekend, where they were swarmed by the Aztec defense, turning the ball over four more times to bring the team total to a national leading 11 this season.

Head coach Doug Martin has harped on taking care of the ball for what seems like his entire career at the helm of the program, but does recognize it as a mental thing for his players at this poiunt.

“After a while, it gets in their head… They start worrying about it too much, then they play conservative or they fumble it,” Martin said.

The Aggies will have to revamp their offense — which occupies the bottom spot in the FBS with nine points a game — when they travel up north for the 110th meeting between the in-state rivals.

“The team I think we’re tied with in the nation for turnovers [with 11] is Hawaii… The difference is Hawaii is scoring 32 points a game, and we’re scoring nine,” Martin said. “If you’re going to turn the ball over, fine — you better go score points then. You can’t not score points and turn the ball over.”

Saturday’s matchup may lend itself to some points being put up on the Dreamstyle Stadium board, though, with UNM and NM State’s defenses rearing up the nation, allowing 48.5 and 50.3 points per contest respectively.

Martin has also stressed the importance of red zone defense, and to this point, that’s been a sore spot for an otherwise improving unit, allowing teams to score 11 touchdowns in 12 red zone tries. NM State will need to start holding teams to field goals at the very least if they hope to bring down those bloated numbers.

UNM has had similar problems, with them being highlighted last week when they fell to No. 7 Notre Dame on the road.

The Lobos gave up 66 points, albeit to a high quality opponent, after winning a shootout against Sam Houston State of the FCS, but like NM State against SDSU, the defense has showed up in spurts, holding their own in the first half against an offense fresh off making the College Football Playoff last season and getting a necessary fourth down stop to seal their week one win.

“It’s like us playing Alabama, its kind of the same deal. [UNM’s] players played hard, they played physical, they’ve got great team speed… Their defensive front held their own against Notre Dame,” Martin said.

Like they often have, UNM has moved the ball effectively on the ground, totaling 212 yards with leading rusher Bryson Carroll averaging 11.5 yards per carry.

On the other hand, the passing game was nearly non-existent, as quarterback Sheriron Jones threw 3 picks in the first half against Notre Dame’s defense.

After trying out three different guys under center in the loss, the Lobos look to be sticking with Tevaka Tuioti this week, who came in and accounted for 132 of UNM’s 151 passing yards against Notre Dame.

With UNM’s lack of clarity at the quarterback position and defense still finding its footing, this shapes up to be NM State’s best shot at putting together a complete game at this point in the season by a wide margin.

The North-South battle will be held at Dreamstyle Stadium at 2:30 p.m. in Albuquerque on Sept. 21.