What San Diego State coach Sean Lewis and the players said ahead of showdown against North Texas

While preparing to face dangerous North Texas quarterback Drew Mestemaker, the San Diego State Aztecs have had to prepare backup quarterback Bert Emanuel Jr. to start in the New Mexico Bowl on Saturday afternoon.

Emanuel will make his first start with the Aztecs (9-3) in place of Jayden Denegal, who had surgery on his non-throwing left shoulder on Dec. 17, when they face the No. 23 Mean Green (11-2) at University Stadium in Albuquerque. Kickoff is at 2:45 p.m. PT and the game will air on ESPN.

Coach Sean Lewis isn’t concerned, though, because San Diego State’s running back is so strong behind 1,000-yard rusher Lucky Sutton.

“Again, we'll match and we'll build the game plan to what Bert’s skill set is,” Lewis said during a news conference on Friday. “He started games before (at Central Michigan), so we know we're going to give him the ball, and he's going to give us a great chance to win.

“I mean besides the service academies, I don't know anyone else has run the ball more than we are. So, running the football has always been a big staple of who we are and what we're about. We want to be able to win the game from the inside out and control the trenches. So obviously, Bert has a skill set that helps us accentuate what that is. But again, I think there's only a handful of teams in the country that ran it more than we did so to say that we're going to run any more, I mean, we're only stretching some margins there to run it any more than we already have this year.”

Emanuel was used sparingly this year, but did appear in 10 games as a complement to Denegal or when Denegal was dinged up.

Here are the highlights of Lewis and the players’ news conference:

Lewis on Lewis on quarterback Bert Emanuel Jr.’s preparation throughout the season

“Bert’s done a great job all year long of being prepared. Obviously, news has come out at the end of season about Jayden (Denegal) and his surgery and what he has battled through for the course of the season. So, BJ has gotten an unbelievable number of reps, and there's been lots of weeks where we didn't know what Denny's availability was going to be. So we've built plans, and we've had proper steps in place, and the guys mindsets have been right to where, whether it was going to be Denny because it was going to be a game day decision, or it was going to be BJ because he's going to be ready to go, we've navigated this in house. Obviously, it's new and it's forward facing to the public, but this is something that the guys have done a great job handling all year long.”

Oct 3, 2025; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego State Aztecs quarterback Bert Emanuel Jr. (5). | David Frerker-Imagn Images

Lewis on having to prepare against one of the nation’s top offensive teams

“I mean, I don't know if you really stop or take away anything. We're going to limit all their explosive playmakers, you know, I think the team that comes out and plays fast, as you watch all these bowl games, who can start quick, who can start fast, is going to be critically important, because for us it's been close to a month since we played a ballgame. So, we just want to do a great job with our communication, with our alignments, our assignments, you know, and try and impact a really good quarterback as much as possible.”

Lewis on the team’s focus

“Yeah, I mean, it didn't take a whole lot of motivation or need to get the guys attention. I mean, you know, we got two guys up here (Lucky Sutton and Owen Chambliss) that are really savvy football players. That love the process, love the prep and our teams that way as well. So they were diving into the video, as early as we were, and guys are sending messages like, ‘Hey, have you seen play 32 from this game? Have you seen this play? Like, what will we do to make this adjustment?’ So, the guys

have been dialed into everything that's been going on. It’s a great matchup between their offense and our defense that are two of the best in the country on either side of the ball.”

Linebacker Owen Chambliss on returning to New Mexico after last month’s regular-season loss

“I mean, yeah, I think, you know, we're going to take the lessons we learned from that field and try to just learn from our mistakes and not make them again. I think it's a little bit of motivation. I think every single time we face adversity this season, we've handled it well. So, I think we're just excited to get back out there and compete.”

San Diego State Aztecs linebacker Owen Chambliss (12). | Photo courtesy of San Diego State University Athletics

Chambliss on the importance of playing in this final game of the season

“Yeah, I think it's important to play in any game. I think the bond we've created since the start of this season is extremely strong. I think we all just want to go out there and compete to be a historic team at San Diego State.”

Running back Lucky Sutton on helping lead SDSU back to a bowl game

“You know, it's definitely a blessing to be in this position. You know, we had two seasons where we couldn't have this opportunity. So, it's a great feeling to be with this team, this 2025 team, and finally have this opportunity to play in a bowl game.”

Sutton on the offense’s confidence in Bert Emmanuel Jr. starting at quarterback

“You know, we built relationships throughout the whole year. We have a next man up mentality. I have true belief in any quarterback that steps up into this game, and whoever steps in, we're going to do what we have to do and control what we can control.”