AZTECS NOTEBOOK : Oatsvall Will Believe Only Luginbill : * Football: New SDSU punter waits for the official word from the coach.

Aztec Coach Al Luginbill made official Monday what others have figured for weeks: Scott Oatsvall has won the job as SDSU punter, replacing two-year veteran Jason Savorn.

Oatsvall still wasn’t completely sold.

“He hasn’t told me anything,” Oatsvall said. “I’ve read it in the papers but I still haven’t heard it directly from the head coach. Until I hear it from him, I’m still concerned.”

And, he’s taking no chances on being complacent, figuring that he could lose the job at any time.

“I heard somebody say that the NFL stands for, ‘Not For Long,’ ” Oatsvall said. “I think you can apply that to this level.”

Oatsvall, from El Camino High, was a walk-on last fall but had a rough start. He was the holder for kicker Andy Trakas for the first three games but, after Trakas was inconsistent and missed a key conversion kick during SDSU’s 21-20 loss to Air Force, Oatsvall was replaced.

“I was in the games and then, all of a sudden, I was off the travel squad and out of the picture,” Oatsvall said.

He added that he “cherishes” those games, perhaps because they are his only game action since he graduated from El Camino in 1987.

Since then, he enrolled at Tennessee, got married two years ago, and then decided to come back to SDSU and try out for the football team.

“I feel I’ve been through a tremendous amount of adversity,” Oatsvall said. “(Not having a scholarship) is a burden on me as well as my wife. She financially supports me through the football season.

“And if you’re sitting on the bench, you feel like you should be out working, meeting your financial needs.”

Luginbill also named Chris Finch, a 6-foot-6, 270-pounder, as the other starting offensive tackle. . . . Luginbill is already thinking ahead to next Thursday’s game with Brigham Young. “We get a break with that 12:30 kickoff against USC (Saturday),” Luginbill said, knowing full well that BYU plays at Texas El Paso on Saturday night. “We can get a good night’s sleep. BYU is not going to get that. Even if they have a charter flight, they’re not going to get in until 1 or 2 a.m. Unless they wait until the next morning, but then they would have to drive from Salt Lake City to Provo.”