AZTECS NOTEBOOK : Some Aztecs Claim WAC Crown

PROVO, Utah —  The Aztecs were thrilled after their 45-38 victory over Brigham Young on Thursday evening. So thrilled that a couple of them were ready to claim the Western Athletic Conference title.

It started with Steve Mateszewicz, who recovered a fumbled punt with 1:44 left in the game.

Asked if he felt sorry for BYU’s Brad Clark, who dropped the punt, Mateszewicz didn’t hesitate.

“Hell no,” he said. “We won the WAC championship, man! We’re going to the WAC championship!”

Receiver Darnay Scott, who caught seven passes for 105 yards and now has 350 yards receiving in two games against BYU, agreed.

“The conference championship is ours,” Scott said. “It’s ours. I predict it. I believe it’s going to happen.”

Coach Al Luginbill, remembering that SDSU nearly won the title last season after losing its conference opener at Air Force, said the Aztecs are a long way from the championship.

“Let me tell you about that,” Luginbill said. “A year ago, we lost our opening game on the road, won six straight and were playing for the WAC title. Winning this game doesn’t win the conference. (BYU) is going to win some games in the conference and we’re going to win some games in the conference.

“But we’re one up on everybody else.”

Andy Trakas kicked a 40-yard field goal from the right hash mark and kicked six extra points. Freshman Peter Holt, who was brought along, never played.

It was quite different from Saturday for Trakas, who missed two field goals in the final minute of a 31-31 tie with USC.

“I really did feel extra pressure,” Trakas said. “I’m not going to lie. Coming off a game like that, it’s really hard to get back in the saddle. I didn’t have a great week in practice and kicking in this high grass is tough.

“I was kind of worried. I said I was going to do what I’ve been doing since I was a freshman. I was a little nervous in the beginning, though.”

SDSU officials are reviewing their open-locker room policy after an incident after Saturday’s USC game in which Karen Pearlman, a reporter for the Daily Californian in El Cajon, was denied access.

Fred Miller, SDSU athletic director, discussed the issue with his associates during a meeting on Tuesday. They do not need to make a decision before the Sept. 26 game at UCLA, but they are looking at either opening the locker room for everybody or closing it and bringing players out to an interview room.

“The trouble is the logistics of our locker room,” Miller said. “From our lockers to the showers, it’s a parade.

“It’s one of those can’t-win situations.”

Looks as if Miller and Glen Tuckett, BYU athletic director, have some negotiating to do. The SDSU media guide says the Aztecs will play BYU in both 1995 and 1996; BYU’s media guide lists no games with the Aztecs during those years.

According the the SDSU media guide, the Aztecs are scheduled to play at BYU on Sept. 16, 1995. BYU’s media guide, though, says the Cougars will be playing at Hawaii on that day.

Also, the SDSU media guide says the Aztecs host BYU on Oct. 26, 1996, but the BYU guide lists the Cougars at home against New Mexico on that day.

The Ink Spot, a store in Provo, has a sign in its front window reading, “I America’s Most Hated Team”, in reference to a story critical of BYU in the college football issue of Sports Illustrated.

The story, written by Douglas S. Looney, also sparked some creative signs in Cougar Stadium:

--”I’d rather be hated than Looney.”

--”You have to be ‘Looney’ to hate BYU.”

--1 Most Hated Team (and we like it).”