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San Diego • After a 34-point loss to San Diego State that was as stunning in its own way as last week's 26-point win over Boise State, Utah State center Austin Stephens embraced the suggestion of a rematch with the Aztecs in the Mountain West championship game in December.

Stephens added this qualifier: "We've got to make it there first."

And just where is there? The potential site of the title game is among the issues that surfaced Friday night at Qualcomm Stadium after SDSU's 48-14 victory — the Aggies' worst defeat since a 50-14 loss at Boise State in 2010.

Thanks to beating Boise State in Logan, USU (4-3, 3-1 MW) can claim the MW's Mountain Division title by winning its four remaining conference games vs. Wyoming, New Mexico, Air Force and Nevada. San Diego State (5-3, 4-0) is very well positioned in the West. Yet even with a head-to-head win, the Aztecs would have to overtake USU in "a composite of selected computer rankings," according to MW procedures, to earn the host's role in the title game.

The College Football Playoff committee rankings are the No. 1 factor, but MW members are unlikely to be among those 25 teams. So the computer rankings would determine the host. As of last weekend, when USU made a huge jump after upsetting Boise State, the Aggies were No. 40 in USA Today's aggregate rankings and SDSU was No. 73. Those numbers will change after this weekend.

So will USU's status as one of the top rushing defenses in the country, part of the fallout of a defeat that coach Matt Wells labeled "embarrassing." The Aggies will fall from No. 6 to about No. 30 in that category after giving up 336 yards to the Aztecs in the schools' first meeting as MW members.

Wells spoke of SDSU's running "right up the heart of your defense," but Donnel Pumphrey got the biggest chunks of his 181 yards on the outside. Regardless, USU's performance was alarming, considering what's ahead with the rushing attacks of New Mexico and Air Force.

Wells and defensive lineman Jordan Nielsen offered different answers when asked about USU's being ready to play Friday, after the emotional game with Boise State. The Aggies "got our head too high after that win," Nielsen said. "We came out like we thought we should win."

Wells liked his team's preparation, but "I just thought our execution stunk," he said.

Devonte Mays finished with 88 yards on 15 carries, but the Aggies had trouble running the ball early in the game and quarterback Kent Myers lost a fumble and threw an interception as SDSU built a 24-0 lead. USU's defense played well in the third quarter, but the offense couldn't follow through and Wells' conservative strategy of punting in fourth-and-1 and fourth-and-2 situations went unrewarded, as the Aggies couldn't get closer than 34-14.

USU lost four turnovers (one on a failed fourth-down play in the fourth quarter) and had no takeaways. Since forcing eight turnovers in the first 31 minutes against Boise State, the Aggies have gone 89 minutes without a takeaway.

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