Aztecs notebook: SDSU looks ahead to Boise State after ugly loss

San Diego State’s six-game winning streak is bookended by a couple of lopsided losses.

There was the 36-13 loss at Washington State two months and the 38-6 loss to Hawaii two days ago.

The more recent defeat coming so soundly was a surprise to those observers who had watched SDSU (7-2, 4-1 MW) surge to the top of the Mountain West standings, where they are tied with Boise State (6-3, 4-1). The teams meet Saturday night at Snapdragon Stadium.

Against the Aztecs, Hawaii was able to take charge on both sides of the line of scrimmage. In addition, Rainbow Warriors quarterback Micah Alejado and his receivers were able to effectively perform against the conference’s top defense.

“I was probably more surprised, more or less, by the things we can control that we didn’t control at that the level that we need to,” SDSU coach Sean Lewis said. “The things that don’t necessarily show up on the tape or the stats of it all.

“Kind of our approach and the intensity and the passion and the execution across the board. That’s not who we are. That’s not who we’ve proven to be. We’re a good team that, again, had a bad night out on the Island.

“We traveled back. We’ve had time to lick our wounds. We’ll clean up the mistakes and we’ll get out of it and we’ll move forward. We’ve got a great opponent with a sense of urgency that we need to prepare for this week to get us right and get us refocused.”

Lewis said the “last time we had a moment and a night like that we responded accordingly,” referring to a 34-0 win over Cal that followed the game at Washington State.

“I look forward to our team doing that again,” Lewis said.

Turning the page

Lewis was asked if losses eat at him, or is he able to assess what went wrong and quickly move on?

“I obsess about the process,” he said. “I try not to have my happiness tied to an outcome. That would be a pretty miserable existence if I only get 12 opportunities to be happy and (within) those 12 opportunities only when we win. I feel very fortunate to be in the position to lead this program, very humbled by the game. I always am. The doors (opened) and the opportunities it has provided me individually, the doors and opportunities it has provided our kids, the unbelievable relationships that I’ve been able to build because of this great game, that’s very, very humbling.

“I’m very grateful to serve our guys each and every single day and to show up and be present today when they need our love and they need our support to pick them up, dust them off, to let them know that we’re a damn good team. We’re sitting first in the conference and let’s go show the world who we are, unapologetically.”

Boise starting QB out

Boise State starting quarterback Maddux Madsen is still sidelined with a “lower leg injury” and will not play against SDSU, Broncos coach Spencer Danielson said during his Monday meeting with the media. Danielson said backup quarterback Max Cutforth will start.

Madsen, the preseason Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year, was injured in the first half of Boise State’s 30-7 loss to Fresno State two weeks ago. He watched the second half on crutches with a boot on his right foot.

Cutforth, a former walk-on, finished the Fresno State game, completing 14 of 29 passes for 106 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.

Boise State was off last week, giving Cutforth two weeks to prepare for the Aztecs.

Ticket sale: 2 for $40

SDSU has been running a special deal for Saturday night’s game at Snapdragon Stadium, offering two tickets for $40.

The Aztecs have sold 4,000 tickets since the special began on Wednesday, according to an SDSU spokesman. Approximately 1,000 tickets remain through the deal.

Those interested in purchasing the discounted tickets can go to goaztecs.com and click on the banner ad running over the top of the website.

The discounted tickets were originally priced from $115 to $180 apiece.

San Jose State kick time

SDSU learned that kickoff time for its Nov. 22 game against San Jose State will be 7:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast by Fox Sports 1.

With the Aztecs’ move next season to the reconstituted Pac-12, it will be the last conference matchup between the schools; no nonconference future games have been announced.

San Jose State (3-6, 2-3) has been one of SDSU’s longest-running opponents, with the first meeting in 1935. The Aztecs lead the overall series 24-21-2.