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FACTS & STATS: Site: War Memorial Stadium (30,514) -- Laramie, Wyoming. Television: The Mtn. Home Record: UNM 0-3, Wyoming 2-1. Away Record: UNM 0-2, Wyoming 1-1. Neutral Record: UNM 0-0, Wyoming 0-0. Conference Record: UNM 0-0, Wyoming 1-0. Series Record: Wyoming leads, 32-29.

GAME NOTES: The New Mexico Lobos try to snap what has become the third-longest losing streak in the nation as they drop in on the Wyoming Cowboys for a Mountain West Conference battle at War Memorial Stadium in Laramie on Saturday afternoon.

Still winless on the season, New Mexico has fallen in nine consecutive games, a stretch that is surpassed only by Western Kentucky (12 games) and Miami-Ohio (10). The last win for the Lobos was a 70-7 thrashing of San Diego State in league play back on October 18th of last year. That scoring burst by UNM is only slightly less than what the team has scored in all of 2009 thus far, with the high-water mark being a 48-28 loss at Texas Tech on October 3rd.

As for the Cowboys, a team that already has a conference victory to celebrate, they moved to 3-2 on the season and tallied their second straight win with a 30-28 victory versus Florida Atlantic in non-conference play last Saturday. At this point the Pokes need just one more win to match last year's total when they finished just 4-8 in the final season under then head coach Joe Glenn.

The Pokes own a 32-29 advantage in the all-time series with the Lobos, even after losing 24-0 last season. The shutout by UNM was the first in conference play since 1983. The game this season pits a pair of first-year head coaches against each other as Mike Locksley mans the sidelines for the Lobos and Dave Christensen handles the action for the Cowboys.

Quarterback Donovan Porterie toss a pair of touchdowns and A.J. Butler hit the end zone once on his 26 carries last weekend, yet the Lobos were still no match for Texas Tech on the road in Lubbock. Porterie finished the outing 30- of-56 for 316 yards and was sacked three times, but didn't toss an interception, while Butler not only tallied 102 yards on the ground, he also caught a team-best nine passes for another 39 yards in defeat. If not for last week's efforts against the Red Raiders, the offense for the Lobos would appear even more bleak this week. Right now the group is eighth in the conference in both rushing and passing with averages of 105.8 and 190 ypg, respectively, and when added together their 295.8 ypg is last among MWC programs and 111th in the nation as well. Coming up with a miserable 14.8 ppg means the Lobos are ahead of just three other teams in the FBS entering play this week. Porterie, who has started all five games this season, has converted almost 60 percent of his passes, but has only three touchdowns to show for his efforts.

At least in the first half, the UNM defense appeared to be up to the challenge of trying to slow down a potent offense like the one owned by the Red Raiders, but the squad simply could not sustain the intensity. New Mexico knocked out starting quarterback Taylor Potts, registering five total sacks and three interceptions in the outing. Nathan Enriquez stepped up with a pair of interceptions and for the fourth time this season Carmen Messina recorded double-digit stops with 12, logging one sack and a forced fumble. Messina continues to dominate his space on the field and is first in the nation in tackles per game with 13.8. Unfortunately, even though Messina has no rivals at the moment, his team is still reeling while being ranked 108th in the nation in total defense with 434.2 ypg allowed. Giving up that many yards is bound to lead to a boat load of points, more like 38 per game to be exact, and that has the group ranked not only last in the MWC, but also 116th in the country entering play this week.

Freshman running back went into last week's meeting with Florida Atlantic having carried the ball just 35 times for less than 200 yards, but the Owls are not soon to forget the youngster after he posted three rushing touchdowns in the 30-28 win on the road. Alexander finished the day with 17 carries for just 50 yards, but he still made the most of those chances. Having an impact of his own was freshman quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels who completed 29- of-38 passes for 223 yards and also contributed with 69 rushing yards on his way to being named the MWC Offensive Player of the Week. Carta-Samuels, who has appeared in all five games thus far, has been rather conservative with just 150.2 ypg passing, but more importantly he has completed 61.7 percent of his attempts and has just a single pick in 128 chances. Were the offensive line a little tighter and not giving up three sacks per game the Cowboys might be producing better than just 19.8 ppg, a number that has them ranked eighth in the conference and 100th in the nation this week.

If not for an interception tossed by Carta-Samuels that was returned for a touchdown, the meeting with FAU would not have been as close as it was. The Pokes held Florida Atlantic to just 113 yards on the ground, while giving up 261 yards and a touchdown through the air. Gabe Knapton finished with a team- best 10 tackles for Wyoming, Weston Johnson tallied two of his five tackles behind the line of scrimmage and Fred Givens logged 1.5 TFLs and a forced fumble along the way as well. Knapton is one of two players averaging double- digit tackles so far this season, but perhaps the bigger hitter for the Cowboys has been John Fletcher who is among the league leaders with his seven TFLs and four sacks. Seemingly always around the ball when it matters most, Fletcher also has one of the team's two blocked kicks as well. Weston Johnson's 6.5 TFLs are second on the team, as are his two interceptions. Between he, Shamiel Gary and Tashaun Gibson the trio accounts for all eight picks for the defense.

Overwhelmed in almost every area of the game these days, New Mexico doesn't appear to be digging out of this deep hole anytime soon, especially on the road against a team like Wyoming that is beginning to put all the pieces together.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Wyoming 24, New Mexico 10