AZTEC NOTEBOOK : Faulk Makes No Excuses for Game

With 118 yards rushing in San Diego State’s 35-7 loss at UCLA on Saturday, Marshall Faulk surpassed the 2,000-yard mark and moved into fourth place among SDSU rushers.

After only his 13th Aztec game, Faulk now has 2,066 yards--an average of 158.9 per game.

Although it was his ninth consecutive game of 100 yards or more, Faulk still was not happy.

“I set standards for myself and when I don’t meet them, I have to answer,” he said. “I don’t have any excuses; we just played a good team.

“I was not frustrated at all. Let’s just say that I was expecting more to happen.”

UCLA defensive players, giddy at their effort, disagreed that Faulk was not frustrated.

“He looked real frustrated,” said linebacker Arnold Ale. “We were ganging up and piling up on him.

“He was always telling the referees that we were late-hitting him. I think we got to him in the first half.”

At halftime, Faulk had only 22 yards on 10 carries.

“We were motivated to play Faulk,” said cornerback Marvin Goodwin.

Two Western Athletic Conference teams known for their potent offenses have been rendered impotent by the Bruins. UCLA held Brigham Young to 10 points last week and SDSU to one touchdown on Saturday.

Gamesmanship?

An SDSU employee who requested anonymity accused UCLA this week of planting a “spy” in at least two of the Aztecs’ August practices.

Supposedly, a fellow named Reza Hariri, who applied and was turned down for a position as an SDSU graduate assistant coach, attended a couple of Aztec practices while telling SDSU coaches he was applying for a position in the Houston program.

However, the SDSU source said the Aztecs later learned that Hariri actually had a job lined up with UCLA and turned information in to Coach Terry Donahue.

Donahue acknowledged that Hariri has applied for a graduate assistant position at UCLA but denied that one had been promised. Donahue also flatly denied the allegation Hariri was scouting.

“I would no more skunk an opponent than try to walk to the moon,” Donahue said. “I am not in the business of skunking opponents.”

From Ranked to Rank: With the SDSU-UCLA series scheduled to end after next year’s game in San Diego, you understand why the Aztecs are thrilled they will not have to return to the Rose Bowl.

The average score of the last four games in the Rose Bowl is UCLA 46, SDSU 15. And despite UCLA’s rout Saturday, the average actually went down. Entering the game, the average of the past three contests was UCLA 50, SDSU 17.

SDSU is now winless in its past 20 games against non-WAC or Big West opponents (0-19-1); 0-14-1 in its past 15 games against Pac 10 schools and 0-15-1 against UCLA.

Coach Al Luginbill, including stints as an assistant at Arizona State and as the head coach at SDSU, now has a personal record of 0-8-1 against UCLA.

Game Notes

The “lumbar belt” that David Lowery wore--that big, bulky thing around his lower back--was specially ordered by SDSU equipment manager Steve Bartel from a company in Houston and arrived in time for Thursday’s practice. . . . Former Torrey Pines High basketball standout Scot Pollard, who moved to Washington, attended the game on a UCLA basketball recruiting trip. . . . UCLA’s 3-0 start is its best since 1988, when the Bruins opened 7-0. . . . The game-time temperature was 95 degrees. “We played a lot of players,” UCLA Coach Terry Donahue said. “Both teams substituted liberally because of the heat.” . . . Only two Aztecs caught more than one pass: Jake Nyberg (two for 28 yards) and Marshall Faulk (two for 19).