UNLV Rebels NCAA Football News

Date: Nov. 28, 6 p.m. Where: Sam Boyd Stadium All-time series: SDSU leads, 11-7 The line: UNLV by 4 Both teams are 4-7, meaning both UNLV's and San Diego State's seasons officially come to a close on Saturday night, no matter the outcome of their regular season finale at Sam Boyd Stadium.

Editor's note: Former UNLV wide receiver Casey Flair writes a weekly column for the Las Vegas Review-Journal as a member of the United Football League's Las Vegas Locomotives.

UNLV senior defensive end and linebacker Jason Beauchamp will play his hometown team, San Diego State, on Saturday in his final game for the Rebels.

The firing of UNLV coach Mike Sanford has rekindled debate over what it takes to have a strong college football program here.

UNLV fired coach Mike Sanford on Sunday. Sanford is 15-43 in his fifth year. 'There's empathy for him and his family,' linebacker Jason Beauchamp told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. 'Everyone has something different to say, but ... after having gone through all the years and all the work I put in, I feel like something needed to change.' Our take: ...

Sanford's firing comes after a 45-17 loss to Air Force on Saturday made the Rebels ineligible for a bowl game.

Dr. Neal Smatresk stands before his office bookcase on which rests a model of a Guatemalan squirrel, which he acquired doing rain-forest research.

* NEXT: San Diego State at UNLV, 6 p.m. Nov. 28, The Mtn. , KWWN-AM Air Force running back Asher Clark bolts past UNLV defensive lineman Malo Taumua, right, and linebacker Starr Fuimaono on a 24-yard touchdown run in the first quarter of the Falcons' 45-17 victory Saturday.

Defense has kept Air Force in every football game this season, but the Falcons are still defined by their triple option.

Nick Oppenneer helps stop a run during the game against San Diego State Oct. 24. In 2007, the Rams lost six games in a row to begin the season and 13 total spanning from the end of 2006.

Dyone Youmans of Effingham County High School dives to sweep the legs of Jimmy Wilkins of Ware County during the Rebels last home game Friday night.

UNLV receiver Ryan Wolfe, right, runs past Colorado State defenders Mychal Sisson and Eugene Daniels in the first half Saturday.

Clayton leads UNLV over Colorado State, 35-16 Eds:APNewsNow. UNLV 35, Colorado State 16.

Conventional wisdom might suggest UNLV is catching Texas Christian at the right time.

NEXT : Colorado State at UNLV, 7 p.m. Saturday, The Mtn. , KWWN-AM UNLV running back Channing Trotter, center, is gang-tackled by a quintet of Texas Christian defenders in the first half of the Rebels' 41-0 loss to the eighth-ranked Horned Frogs in Fort Worth, Texas, on Saturday.

To be blunt, Vegas should have stayed in Vegas. But maybe that's what this TCU defense has become.

TCU linebacker Kris Gardner reaches for the ball fumbled by UNLV wide receiver Ryan Wolfe, center, on a punt return as center Clint Gresham , left, wide receiver Jimmy Young , safety Malcolm Williams , defensive end Wayne Daniels , cornerback Jason Teague and linebacker Tank Carder converge on the play in the second half Saturday, Oct.

Andy Dalton threw three touchdown passes, Ed Wesley scored running and catching the ball and the TCU defense smothered UNLV to get its first shutout of the season, 41-0 on Saturday.

Notable: TCU jumped to sixth in the BCS standings after a 38-7 win at BYU. ... DE Jerry Hughes has nine of TCU's 26 sacks.

UNLV quarterback Omar Clayton stiff-arms New Mexico's Frankie Baca during Saturday's game.