Diego State

The Navy football team will be getting an early start on its 1997 schedule -- real early.Because of scheduling conflicts with the San Diego Padres, San Diego State was forced to play its home opener against the Midshipmen at Qualcomm Stadium on Friday, Sept. 5, at 11: 30 a.m. PDT"I think that favors us," Navy coach Charlie Weatherbie said. "My guys are used to getting up early in the morning for classes."In fact, Weatherbie held a number of his preseason practices at 5: 30 a.m. to accommodate players taking summer courses.

Steve Fisher is the name brand for San Diego State basketball, the professorial former coach of Michigan and the "Fab Five. " With white hair and dark-framed glasses, he's what your grandpa would look like if he taught yoga and stuck to a high-fiber diet. Kawhi Leonard is the complete-player star, a 6-foot-7 sophomore averaging a double-double at 15 points and 10 rebounds per game. Leonard plays with a big heart and even bigger hands. A reporter at the Tucson regional asked Leonard at a news conference if he could display one of his gargantuan mitts.

Jamey Cox's three-pointer with 1:50 left in the game broke a tie and helped the San Diego State women's basketball team hold off Navy, 73-69, yesterday at Cox Arena in San Diego. Navy (2-2), trailing 66-59 with less than three minutes to play, went on a 7-0 run as Courtney Davidson (team-high 22 points) hit a basket and a three-pointer, followed by a basket inside from Alison Luchinger with 1:14 left in the game. Cox then hit her sixth three-pointer and San Diego State regained control.

Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie sees Jasmine Thomas as someone who is never satisfied. Thanks to the junior guard, the Blue Devils now stand a win away from their first Final Four since 2006. Thomas matched her career-high with 29 points and sprinkled her stat line with a little bit of everything, and second-seeded Duke ended No. 11 seed San Diego State's surprising NCAA tournament run with a 66-58 victory Saturday to reach the regional final. "She's just a very hungry player, someone who loves to get out there and dictate and on both sides of the ball," McCallie said.

Alexis Rack was perfect in eight trips to the foul line down the stretch, and 11th seed Mississippi State (23-9) was 21-for-22 as a team in beating No. 6 seed Texas (21-12), 71-63, yesterday in the first round of the NCAA tournament's Berkeley Regional in Columbus, Ohio. "We've been doing this all year," said Rack, who had 20 points for her 13th consecutive game in double figures. "We shoot 100 free throws in practice. I felt like I was at practice. I felt comfortable and just focused."

When: TodayWhere: Las VegasTeams: San Diego State (7-4) vs. North Carolina (6-5)Time: 6 p.m.TV: ESPN2Line: North Carolina by 7Series record: First meetingCareer Bowl records: San Diego State 1-3; North Carolina 10-12.Coaches: Ted Tollner, fifth season at San Diego State (32-25, 58-45 overall); Carl Torbush, first season at North Carolina (10-13 overall).Outlook: The Aztecs went 7-1 in the WAC and were co-champions of its Pacific Division. SDSU began the season 0-3 with lopsided losses to strong teams -- Wisconsin, Southern Cal and Arizona.

Rookie linebacker Joe Martin signed with the Ravens as an undrafted free agent in May. A former walk-on at San Diego State, Martin registered a tackle and a forced fumble in Monday night's 29-3 preseason victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. How did it feel to knock the football out of wide receiver Jermaine Jamison's hands in the fourth quarter? It felt great. It was my first defensive play in the NFL. I was excited. You start to breathe and then you get that cool air in your lungs and it gets kind of hard to breathe when you haven't done much.

Will Demps Position: Safety College: San Diego State Who he is: He is a former walk-on who was a two-year starter at San Diego State. He started all 11 games in each of his junior and senior years. He recorded 229 career tackles (135 solo) and five interceptions. He was first-team All-Mountain West two consecutive years. Pre-game rituals: "I always wear the same tank top that I wear to practice, and I always have a pack of M&Ms before a game; get my sweet up. It's just a habit I always do."

SAN DIEGO -- Less than a month ago, San Diego State senior wide receiver Az-zahir Hakim sat in a California jail, uncertain not only of his football future, but of his life.The All-America candidate had been arrested on suspicion of joining two teammates in the gang rape of an 18-year old woman at his home in El Cerrito and was being held on $1 million bail. After two days of turmoil and negative publicity, Hakim was released when the district attorney ruled there was insufficient evidence.

San Diego State coach Chuck Long was asked this question yesterday after giving Notre Dame a scare: Which team was better - the Fighting Irish or Cal Poly, which beat the Aztecs a week earlier? "That's a tough question," Long said, chuckling a bit. "It's hard to say who's better. They both beat us." That might say as much about Notre Dame's play in a 21-13 come-from-behind home victory as the Fighting Irish's four turnovers and struggles to establish a running game against a makeshift San Diego State defensive line.

Teams with the better seeds swept all 16 games in the first round of the women's NCAA tournament Saturday, but it was a different story Sunday. Four teams with double-figure seeds won, including No. 11 seed San Diego State, which beat sixth-seeded Texas 74-63 on the Longhorns' home court in the Memphis Region in Austin, Texas. Jene Morris scored 32 points as San Diego State (22-10) pulled off a first-round upset for the second straight year. The Aztecs were a No. 10 seed when they beat DePaul last year.

By the time Jodie Meeks got going for Kentucky, Notre Dame was all but packing its bags for New York. The Irish were up by 15 points before Meeks made his second basket, on just his fourth shot with 12:18 left in the game, and the Irish survived a 17-5 run late by the visiting Wildcats to end a 10-game losing streak to Kentucky with a 77-67 victory Wednesday night to advance to the National Invitation Tournament semifinals. "They did a great job of guarding him," Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie said.

Alexis Rack was perfect in eight trips to the foul line down the stretch, and 11th seed Mississippi State (23-9) was 21-for-22 as a team in beating No. 6 seed Texas (21-12), 71-63, yesterday in the first round of the NCAA tournament's Berkeley Regional in Columbus, Ohio. "We've been doing this all year," said Rack, who had 20 points for her 13th consecutive game in double figures. "We shoot 100 free throws in practice. I felt like I was at practice. I felt comfortable and just focused."

San Diego State coach Chuck Long was asked this question yesterday after giving Notre Dame a scare: Which team was better - the Fighting Irish or Cal Poly, which beat the Aztecs a week earlier? "That's a tough question," Long said, chuckling a bit. "It's hard to say who's better. They both beat us." That might say as much about Notre Dame's play in a 21-13 come-from-behind home victory as the Fighting Irish's four turnovers and struggles to establish a running game against a makeshift San Diego State defensive line.

Rookie linebacker Joe Martin signed with the Ravens as an undrafted free agent in May. A former walk-on at San Diego State, Martin registered a tackle and a forced fumble in Monday night's 29-3 preseason victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. How did it feel to knock the football out of wide receiver Jermaine Jamison's hands in the fourth quarter? It felt great. It was my first defensive play in the NFL. I was excited. You start to breathe and then you get that cool air in your lungs and it gets kind of hard to breathe when you haven't done much.

SAN DIEGO -- The final pre-game news conference and team luncheon were staged aboard the venerable USS Midway, once a mighty aircraft carrier and now a museum docked in the San Diego Harbor. Navy and Marine Corps fighter planes and helicopters zoom through the skies all over the area. Hundreds of ships in port for the holiday season sit at the 32nd Naval station a short hop from downtown. The thousands of fans who purchased tickets from the Naval Academy Athletic Association - they outdid sales at Colorado State by more than 4-to-1 - have begun to swarm into the city, assuring the Poinsettia Bowl of a distinct nautical flavor in its first postseason venture.

Senior slotback Pat McGrew is majoring in economics, but he sounds more like an architect in describing how the Navy football team has developed under head coach Charlie Weatherbie, and the team's high expectations for this season, starting today against San Diego State."

San Diego State (8-3-1)vs. No. 23 Tulsa (9-2)jTC Where: Anaheim, Calif.When: 9 p.m.TV: Channel 54San Diego State outlook: The Aztecs' star is Marshall Faulk, the nation's leading rusher. Though Faulk missed 3 games, he still rushed for 1,429 yards on 201 carries (7.1 avg.) and averaged 158.7 yards per game. Faulk also led the nation in the scoring with 23 TDs, 2 extra-point conversions for a total of 140 points and a 15.56-points-per-game average. QB David Lowery has completed 176 of 311 passes for 2,575 yards and 19 TDs. Patrick Rowe leads the Aztecs in receiving with 57 receptions for 822 yards (14.4 avg.)

San Diego -- The baby of the bowls is off to an encouraging start. Prodded by the Mountain West Conference to launch a second postseason game in San Diego, certified for play last spring by the NCAA and buoyed by the appearance of the Naval Academy and its legion of fans for the kickoff event, the Poinsettia Bowl is headed to an initial success. In the past year, everything has fallen conveniently into place for officials of the well-received Holiday Bowl, who have an added starter for their work log. "All of a sudden, things started building up, and here we are," said Holiday Bowl executive director Bruce Binkowski.

SAN DIEGO - Michelle DuBord often is the first person to hear of trouble at San Diego State University. In her campus job, she sometimes gets calls about offbeat problems, like the time a student accidentally dropped a cell phone down an elevator shaft. Her phone also rings with questions about balky Internet service, roommate tensions in the residence halls and difficulties in finding tutors. But it isn't frazzled freshmen or other antsy undergraduates who keep DuBord busy with those inquiries.