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Logan • Finally, Utah State's special teams play is back where it belongs — at a high level — and more of a weapon than a hindrance.

The Aggies went through a tough spell with some failed field goal attempts and mistakes on the returns, but the special teams players have redeemed themselves of late.

Kicker Nick Diaz has made his last eight field goal attempts, punter Jaron Bentrude ranks 17thin the nation with 25 of his 65 punts downed inside the 20-yard line and JoJo Natson is coming off a performance at Wyoming in which he returned a punt 80 yards for a touchdown, earning the College Football Performance Awards National Punt Returner of the Week honors.

These are the kind of statistics that coach Matt Wells had predicted the Aggies would post in the preseason.

When they weren't performing up to his standards, he took action, which Diaz said everyone took to heart.

"Coach Wells pulled everybody aside from each unit and just said, 'hey, this is what we need to get done,'" Diaz said. "'You guys aren't doing it. It's your job from an individual player standpoint to get that done so the whole team could benefit from it and build off each other.' From that, each player did take it upon themselves to put in extra film time and did a little soul searching."

Diaz is 11-of-13 on the season in field goal kicking and has made his last 25 extra points, giving the Aggies the consistency they were searching for earlier.

"Nick has done a really nice job, first of all, in the operation of time and his consistency," Wells said. "We're going to need that because I keep saying we're going to need a field goal to win a game here coming up at some point."

Diaz attributed his blocked kick in the loss at Arkansas State for some of his improvement.

"That still haunts me every day in practice," he said. "I still go back and kick from that same spot to make sure it doesn't happen again. It's the driving force."

Road warriors

Even though they are just 3-6, the New Mexico Lobos have played well on the road this season, with all three wins coming away from home. The Lobos lost to Air Force just 35-11 in their only other road game.

Such results caught the attention of Wells, who said he believes the Lobos "band together" on the road.

"Sometimes there's a good mindset on the road," Wells said. "Some teams have it and some teams don't. This team seems to have it."

Of note

Injuries are helping the Aggies create some interesting statistics: Utah State is the only team in the nation with five players who have at least two touchdown passes. Sophomore Darell Garretson has eight, senior Craig Harrison has three, freshman Kent Myers has three and Chuckie Keeton has two. Receiver Ronald Butler has two as well. … USU's offense has turned the ball over six times in the last seven games, but so far teams aren't capitalizing on the turnovers. The Aggies' defense has denied opponents any points off those mistakes. —

New Mexico at Utah State

O Saturday, 2 p.m.

TV • ESPNews