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FACTS & STATS: Site: Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium (61,000) -- Memphis, Tennessee. Television: Local. Home Record: UTEP 1-2, Memphis 1-2. Away Record: UTEP 1-1, Memphis 0-2. Neutral Record: UTEP 0-0, Memphis 0-0. Conference Record: UTEP 1-0, Memphis 0-2. Series Record: Memphis leads, 2-0.

GAME NOTES: The Texas-El Paso Miners head to Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium to take on the Memphis Tigers in a Conference USA tussle.

UTEP opened its conference schedule by stunning 12th-ranked Houston last weekend, 58-41. A week earlier, the Miners were a 1-3 team after an embarrassing 64-7 loss to Texas. But now the Miners are a rejuvenated team after notching their first victory over a ranked opponent since 1997.

Meanwhile, Memphis is reeling after two straight losses entering this matchup. Last weekend, the Tigers were upended by UCF, 32-14, to fall to 1-4 on the season. The team has struggled on both sides of the ball, and a minus-one turnover margin has magnified their struggles.

The Tigers lead the head-to-head series, 2-0, which includes a 38-19 win over the Miners when the teams last met in 2006.

Houston was not prepared to stop UTEP running back Donald Buckram, but you can bet Memphis won't make the same mistake this weekend. Buckram carried 32 times for a career-high 262 yards (8.2 ypc) and scored four second-half touchdowns. The 262 yards ranks second all-time in the UTEP record books. On the season, Buckram has three 100-yard games and is averaging 112 yards per contest, which ranks 11th in the nation. Buckram's emergence is a major boost for an offense that already boasts a capable quarterback in junior Trevor Vittatoe, who entered the season with 58 touchdown passes already under his belt. Wideout Jeff Moturi, who caught 22 touchdown passes over the last two seasons, is another weapon in the passing game. But truth be told, Vittatoe hadn't been getting the job done, as he entered last week's game with five interceptions and just one touchdown on the season. A dangerous rushing option such as Buckram takes some pressure off Vittatoe, who went 19-of-30 for 276 yards and two TDs in last week's win.

Against Houston, the Miners had three players making their respective first starts in the secondary because of injuries. Cougars' quarterback Case Keenum took advantage and threw for a whopping 536 yards and five touchdowns. In all, Houston amassed 664 total yards and a staggering 42 first downs, including 31 passing first downs. At his weekly press conference on Monday, head coach Mike Price joked that he put in his rope-a-dope defense, which allowed the Cougars to score the game's first 10 points and perhaps become overconfident. All jokes aside, this unit needs to play a lot better if the Miners are to contend in the pass-happy C-USA. Price expects to get some guys back healthy this week, which could certainly help. After last week's shootout with Houston, the Miners now rank 110th in the nation in scoring defense (34.8 ppg) and 117th in total defense (494.4 ypg).

After grabbing a 14-9 lead in the third quarter against UCF last weekend, the Memphis offense went into hibernation mode the rest of the way. The next four drives netted a missed field goal, a punt, an interception and a turnover on downs. One of the few bright spots for the offense this season has been senior wideout Duke Calhoun, who has notched three straight 100-yard receiving games. Against UCF, he hauled in four passes for 162 yards and a touchdown. Senior running back Curtis Steele returned to the lineup last week after missing the previous two games with a bone bruise. But he didn't make much of an impact, finishing with 22 yards on eight carries. As a team, Memphis totaled just 67 rushing yards and averaged 2.6 ypc. The Tigers average 114.6 rushing ypg on the season, which ranks 92nd out of 120 schools in the Football Bowl Subdivision. With the quarterback competition still unsettled between Tyler Bass and Will Hudgens, the ground game has been under whelming to say the least.

Defensively, the Tigers have been gashed by the run week after week. They enter this contest allowing an average of 196 rushing ypg, which ranks 108th in the nation. Last week, Knights tailback Brynn Harvey carried 42 times for 219 yards and a touchdown, as UCF head coach George O'Leary was more than happy to stick with the run game. It turned out to be a very effective strategy, and the Memphis defense wore down late. Over the final 15:03, the Tigers allowed 23 points and watched a 14-9 lead turn into a 32-14 loss. Of course, it didn't help that the Memphis offense failed to sustain drives throughout the second half. Still, the defense simply couldn't get off the field in the fourth quarter, and UCF wound up with a staggering 18-minute edge in time of possession. With Buckram coming to town, that kind of possession disadvantage will spell disaster for the Tigers.

At UTEP, coach Price has his players wipe mud from a car windshield each week to emphasize the importance of 'wiping the slate clean' after every game -- win or lose. Following their first victory over a ranked opponent in 12 years, it's fair to wonder if the Miners will have any sort of emotional hangover as they hit the road to face a 1-4 team. The game plan should be simple enough: feed the ball to Buckram and see how many yards he can pile up.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Texas-El Paso 41, Memphis 20