Aztecs notebook: Sean Lewis drums up support for Mountain West opener

San Diego State coach Sean Lewis will be out again this week on campus and in the community as he continues to drum up support for the Aztecs football program.

Between season-ticket sales, student tickets, community outreach and marketing promotions, SDSU distributed nearly all of the tickets to 32,500-seat  Snapdragon Stadium leading up to the Aztecs’ game two weeks ago against Cal.

Now Lewis is trying to draw a crowd for Friday night’s Mountain West opener against Colorado State at Snapdragon.

“We need our city to continue to show up for us,” Lewis said. “It was a tremendous opportunity against Cal. There was a direct correlation that you could make from the energy, the enthusiasm, the number of people that were in the stands, to the impact that they had on the game.

“Great opportunity this Friday night for our city, for the community, for the school, for the student body to come out, to pack Snapdragon and continue the party that we started a couple of weeks ago.”

The in-house crowd was 21,819 to witness SDSU’s 34-0 win over the Golden Bears. The Aztecs offered two complimentary tickets to season ticket holders and also distributed tickets at community events. In addition, they had a “flash sale” in which ticket prices were reduced to $15.

Ticketmaster listed several thousand tickets still for sale for Friday’s game. Approximately 500 were on the east (visiting) side. Nearly 4,000 were still available on the upper west (home) side. Most ticket prices ranged from $80 to $180, though some were priced at $269.

Lewis said during Monday’s midday press conference that there were plans in the works to again get tickets distributed. There was no immediate word on whether the Aztecs planned to do another flash sale.

“I love our fans,” Lewis said. “They are fanatical. Can’t wait to see them show up on Friday and be fanatical for us and generate more illegal procedure and false start penalties (for Colorado State).

“(Fans) have high standards for us? Awesome. I love it. I’ve got high standards for our city, too. I need one percent of San Diego County to show up so we can sell out Snapdragon Stadium. And then how cool is that environment going to be? How electric will that be for our kids? How much will that energy feed our kids and be an energy source to generate explosive plays and then to make it so much more challenging and so much harder to win for a road team?”

Say what?

Colorado State to used both third-year starter Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi (44-for-82, 488 yards, TD/ 2 INTs) and backup Jackson Brousseau (29-for-40, 266 yards, TD) this season.

Does it matter which quarterback plays against the Aztecs?

“No,” said SDSU linebacker Owen Chambliss, the Aztecs’ leading tackler. “The way our DBs play, put (Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick) Mahomes out there if you want to.”

Notable

SDSU, which went 3-9 last season, was among 20 schools with three or fewer wins a year ago. The Aztecs (3-1) are one of four schools that already have three victories this season, along with Mississippi State (4-1 after going 2-10), Florida State (3-1 after going 2-10) and Southern Mississippi (3-2 after going 1-11).

• The Aztecs are 62-34 (.646) in the Mountain West, including championships and bowl games, in the current 12-team configuration that has been in place since 2013. Only Boise State (83-18, .822) has a better record.

• A deeper dive into the SDSU archives indicates that kicker Gabe Plascencia‘s 18 straight field goals made is tied with the mark Chris O’Brien established over the 1984-85 seasons.

• Punter Hunter Green leads the Mountain West with a 46.2-yard punt average (13th in FBS) and 11 punts inside the 20-yard line. He also has two punts of 67 yards. No one else in the nation has more than one punt of 67 or more yards.