AZTEC NOTEBOOK / SCOTT MILLER : Luginbill Got Revenge on Monty

And then Aztec Coach Al Luginbill took on Monty Montezuma. . . .

SDSU received unsportsmanlike conduct penalties after two touchdowns. The second came when Monty Montezuma, SDSU’s mascot, ran into the end zone to congratulate Darnay Scott after a 53-yard third-quarter touchdown reception made it 28-10.

After the flag was thrown, Luginbill raced down toward Monty and chewed him out.

“I told him to please stay out of the end zone,” Luginbill said. “We’ve got to be the only team in the country that gets a celebration penalty on its mascot.”

His first collegiate reception could have come last year, because the Aztecs wanted to play Marc Ziegler at tight end as a true freshman.

But he fractured his collarbone and was redshirted.

And it could have come much earlier this season, but Ziegler pulled a knee ligament and missed the season’s first month.

But finally, in the second quarter, Ziegler caught a two-yard pass--and it was for a touchdown.

“I pulled a little Darnay Scott move out there,” said Ziegler, who was a year ahead of Wayne Pittman at Mira Mesa High.

Ziegler said this reception was made extra special because it came in his hometown. He also said he narrowly missed getting his first reception at Hawaii Oct. 5.

“I should have had one in Hawaii,” he said. “It was just out of my reach. But I’ll gladly take this one.

ABC-TV’s Bo Schembechler, at halftime of Saturday’s USC-Washington game, talking about the Big Ten-Holiday Bowl agreement, under which that conference’s second-place team--probably Iowa--will play in the Dec. 30 game:

“I don’t think you should ever be locked in (to a bowl game). Iowa could be 10-1 and ranked in the top 10 and have to go to the Holiday Bowl. That’s just not right.”

Bowl Talk: Representatives from both the Freedom and Copper bowls were in attendance again Saturday.

Craig Russell, Freedom Bowl scout, said his game is interested in UCLA or Stanford and the Western Athletic Conference runner-up. So potentially, it seems, there could be a UCLA-SDSU rematch.

“It wouldn’t matter to us,” Russell said. “Whether it matters to the teams themselves is a different story.”

The Bruins whipped SDSU, 37-12, on Sept. 26.

SDSU’s Gary Taylor re-injured his groin in the third quarter and did not return, and backup defensive back Zac Stokes suffered a first-degree concussion during a third-quarter special teams collision. SDSU trainer Brian Barry said Taylor’s status for this week will be determined today and that Stokes will be held out of practice until Wednesday. The third quarter wasn’t kind to Colorado State, either--cornerback Selwyn Jones suffered a dislocated hip and missed the rest of the game.