Containing No. 4 could lead to win No. 2 for Vandals

Austin Franklin, a junior wide receiver from Dallas, leads New Mexico State in receiving (46), receiving yards (606) and touchdown catches (5) this season - despite having played in just seven games.

All-time, Franklin ranks fourth on the Aggies in catches (154), fifth in yards (2,375), fourth in TD receptions (17) and third in 100-yard receiving games (11).

So, as you might expect, Franklin has the attention of today's opponent, the Idaho Vandals - even if they know him only by his jersey number.

"No. 4, I think he's a great player," Idaho coach Paul Petrino said of Franklin. "I think their receivers in general are very talented, very athletic, offensively they do a nice job moving the ball. ... the biggest thing, right off the bat, is we've got to make sure we don't let No. 4 beat us. We've got to do everything we can to stop him."

Both teams bring records of 1-10 into today's season finale at Aggie Memorial Stadium, in the regular season finale for both teams. Idaho and New Mexico State, left on the outside when the Western Athletic Conference did not sponsor football this fall, are playing this season as independents, and are scheduled to join the Sun Belt Conference in football only in 2014.

New Mexico State has been one of the few teams Idaho has been competitive with in recent years.

Of the Vandals' 20 victories over the past six seasons, four have come against New Mexico State - more than against any other foe during that time. All told, Idaho leads the series 14-5 - 11-5 since 1996, and the teams have met every year but once since.

The lone win this year for New Mexico State, under first-year coach Doug Martin, came 34-29 on Oct. 26 over Abilene Christian, which is transitioning this year from NCAA Division II to the Football Championship Subdivision. The Aggies' money games were at Texas (a 56-7 loss) and at UCLA (a 59-13 loss).