Having the nation’s longest active bowl drought is a claim to fame that no university wants to be known for, but Saturday against South Alabama, this 2017 New Mexico State football team has a chance to end the 57-year spell of suffering that generations of Aggies have had to endure.

NMSU is 5-6 after defeating Idaho last weekend despite starting quarterback Tyler Rogers not playing due to injury, and with one game left to decide their postseason fate, the stakes couldn’t be any higher for a New Mexico State team that has already secured the most wins under Head Coach Doug Martin in his five seasons at the helm.

“For these kids to go out, get that sixth win and get the respect that this program wants, that’s really what they’ve been chasing all year,” Martin said, touching on the gravity of the situation while prioritizing the overall image of the program over earning a bowl bid. “It’s been a long time where we’ve had people not talk good about us, nationally and even around here. There’s no question that it’s great to be in this position, but the team understands and is on board with this not being about the bowl game — it’s about us getting some respect.”

While Martin has reiterated that making a bowl isn’t the primary goal for the team, his comments far from downplay what a bowl appearance would mean to this program and university at large, and are more a testament to what how important earning respect is.

Since New Mexico State’s last bowl appearance — a 20-13 win over Utah State in the 1960 Sun Bowl — the Aggies have just eight winning seasons in 57 years, with five of them coming under coach head coach Warren Woodson, the man that lead NMSU to both of their bowl victories who was forced to retire after a 7-2-1 1967 season.

A sixth win for the Aggies this weekend would mark the first time since 2002 that NMSU finished .500 or better in a season, and with the school’s conference affiliation with the Sun Belt ending after this year, a 6-6 season with a bowl appearance would be a great resume builder for looks from a potential conference partner in the future.

A win Saturday is far from a foregone conclusion, however, and Coach Martin knows it. At 4-6 and 3-4 in Sun Belt play, South Alabama’s record might not jump off the page at you, but when you look at the wins that they have picked up, there’s no arguing that they’re a sneaky dangerous team with a defense that Martin called one of the best in the conference. The Jaguars have given the Sun Belt’s top two teams in Troy and Arkansas State their only conference losses of the season, holding both teams to their season low in points (8 and 19 respectively) and enter this matchup with the emotional motivation to send Head Coach Joey Jones, who is coaching his final game with the team, off with a win.

Having said all that, the Aggies are still a 10-point favorite for a reason. South Alabama ranks dead-last in total offense in the conference and has scored the second fewest points per game out of all Sun Belt teams. New Mexico State has shown flashes of defensive dominance this season, leading the conference in interceptions (14) and sacks (36, which is a new school record) and are riding high after what was arguably their best performance on that side of the ball all season against Idaho last Saturday.

The probable return of Tyler Rogers at quarterback is another encouraging sign for the Aggies, who have boasted one of the better passing attacks in the nation with the redshirt senior running the show. Rogers, along with Larry Rose III, Jaleel Scott, Dalton Herrington and other seniors will look to end their careers at Aggie Memorial Stadium with a win that would immortalize not only this team, but the senior class as one of the most beloved in the program’s history.

“Winning this game would be like a dream come true,” Rogers said, addressing the importance of that sixth win, especially for this senior class. “Before coming to this program, that’s what the coaches tell us and as players that’s what you want to do — we want to be the reason this program turned around. To be able to do that our last year and to be sent off like that would be something special.”

With history like this on the line, there’s absolutely no reason for this game to not be close to a sell out. Martin has talked about the importance of having an energetic home crowd all season, and in an emotional game where the pressure on players and coaches will be at its highest in nearly 15 years, there isn’t a better time to come out and support.

“This is going to be a really demanding game for the team,” Martin said. “I hope we have a huge crowd… we’re going to need everything we can get to go with us and help us win this football game.”