SDSU’s Next Goal: <i> Beat</i> Ranked Team : College football: And damaging the championship plans of rival Brigham Young tonight would be especially sweet.

Maybe you listened to it on the radio. Maybe you just heard a final score from someone last Saturday night.

No. 7 Miami 42, San Diego State 6.

Chances are that your reaction was along the lines of, “Hmmmmm. Not as bad as I thought.”

That wasn’t Al Luginbill’s reaction. No sir. And the San Diego State coach says it will be an improved team that takes the field at 7 tonight to put the finishing touches on a fairly successful season against Brigham Young in San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

“I know we’ll play with a lot more effort and a lot more intensity than we showed last week,” Luginbill said. “In the first 10 minutes, that’s as bad as we’ve played since the Fullerton game (a 41-41 tie). Some of our young men didn’t think we should be there. We’ve had a few discussions about that this week.”

But Luginbill thinks the experience against a nationally ranked team will give the Aztecs (6-4-1, 4-2) some confidence.

“We failed to rise to the occasion last week,” Luginbill said. “We didn’t go into Miami in the right frame of mind. We got wrapped up in who we were playing rather than how, and that was a major mistake.”

BYU (9-2, 6-1) is ranked No. 16 in the coaches’ poll and No. 21 by the writers. The Cougars need one victory to clinch their 13th Western Athletic Conference championship--their first WAC title since 1985, when they shared it with Air Force. The last time BYU won it outright was 1984, when it finished 8-0 (13-0 overall) en route to the national championship.

With a victory tonight, BYU would earn its eighth trip to the Holiday Bowl. A loss would leave Air Force and Hawaii in the race.

For SDSU, a victory would mean that Luginbill and his team can enjoy their winter.

“I’d hate to go through the whole off-season with the memory of what happened last weekend,” Luginbill said. “That would gnaw on you.”

SDSU has won five of its past six games, causing those connected with the program to feel Aztec football fortunes are on the rise. Which should make BYU wary.

“What I’d like to have done is beaten Hawaii and have it done,” BYU Coach LaVell Edwards said. “But we’re in control of our own destiny, which is what you want.”

This is the first time since 1986 that BYU has been in such a position this late in the season. But before you pencil BYU in to play in the Holiday Bowl against Penn State--one of the teams expected to be officially invited today in a noon press conference--consider this: SDSU has defeated BYU in two consecutive games in San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium. The Aztecs won, 10-3 in 1986 and 27-15 last year. The 1986 game was for the WAC championship; last year’s knocked BYU out of the running for the WAC title.

One reason the Aztecs have made a habit of defeating the Cougars lately is that they simply don’t like them.

Last year, SDSU players were upset after the game, claiming BYU players had directed racial slurs at them.

Two years ago, SDSU players were unhappy after a 38-21 loss at Brigham Young because BYU didn’t stop the game or make a public address announcement when quarterback Todd Santos broke the NCAA all-time passing record.

Those thoughts are in the minds of several players, particularly the 20 SDSU seniors who will be playing their final college game.

“When I came here, I really respected BYU,” senior wide receiver Monty Gilbreath said. “I don’t respect them nearly as much now. I respect them as far as talent, but not the way they carry themselves and play the game.

“Two years ago, they didn’t acknowledge Santos’ record. I thought a class program would have acknowledged it. And last year there were racial slurs and bad-mouthing. I don’t think that’s the way you play football, especially when you’re a winning organization.”

For these reasons, as well as the fact that the road to the Holiday Bowl usually leads through BYU, the game with the Cougars is annually one of the biggest of the year--even if SDSU is going nowhere.

“At the beginning of the season, you look at the schedule, and Brigham Young is probably the biggest game you’ll play,” Gilbreath said. “We played a nationally ranked team in Miami last week, but I’d put BYU up ahead because of the rivalry, the emotion and the excitement.

“Miami was a new thing for us, playing a (highly) ranked team, but in four years I’ve grown to dislike BYU very much.”

As so many BYU teams in the past, this year’s is led by its quarterback. For the 10th week, Ty Detmer is leading the NCAA either in total offense or pass efficiency. This week, his pass-efficiency rating is 175.5, and he is second in the nation in total offensive yards at 372.3. He has accounted for at least one touchdown in each of BYU’s last 13 games. Just a sophomore, Detmer already has 42 touchdown passes. He also needs just 90 yards tonight to move ahead of Utah’s Scott Mitchell for the NCAA passing record for a sophomore.

“We knew he was going to be good, but we’re really pleased with his pass-efficiency ranking,” Edwards said. “He’s been consistent. I think he’s in the same category with (past BYU quarterbacks). He’s got the awareness of (Jim) McMahon, he’s got good instincts, a good arm and a good ability to avoid the rush.”

Said Luginbill: “The key for us will be whether we can slow them down. They catch the ball extremely well. They don’t run as well as past BYU teams, but what BYU has done is put points on the board.”

BYU is averaging 39.6 points a game and allowing 26.5. In the last three games, BYU has averaged 53 points a game. The Cougars defeated Utah last week, 70-31, as Detmer completed 18 of 22 passes for 358 yards and four touchdowns.