What San Diego State players said during game-week news conference

San Diego State gets its first road test of the season when it travels to Pullman to face future Pac-12 opponent Washington State on Saturday night.

It will be a much better measuring stick than the 42-0 home opener against FCS Stony Brook on Thursday night. It’ll also be a rematch of last year’s game, when the Aztecs blew a 12-point lead in the fourth quarter and lost 29-26 to Washington State at Snapdragon Stadium.

The Aztecs say they’re not concerned with playing in front of what could be a sellout crowd at 32,952-seat Martin Stadium. The stadium was packed last Saturday night for the Battle of the Palouse, when WSU kicked a last-season field goal to beat Idaho 13-10.

“Crowds come around. You can have teams with packed-out crowds and they still lose,” junior safety Dalesean Staley said. “The crowd can only do so much in the game. It’s really up to the team on who’s going to win the game. “The crowd is just there to watch the game and have fun. But to figure out who’s going to win is going to be between the teams.”

After this season, SDSU will leave the Mountain West, along with Boise State, Utah State, Fresno State and Colorado State, and join Pac-12 holdovers WSU and OSU. They’ll be joined in football by Texas State and in basketball by Gonzaga.

Here are the highlights of SDSU’s players’ Week 2 news conference:

Junior wide receiver Jacob Bostick on possibly playing before a packed house

“I love that. I don’t think anybody on our team shies away from a big fan base or anything like that. So we know going into it that they’re going to be ready to go, and so that’s our job to be prepared.”

Staley on playing in front of a hostile crowd

“That’s more eyes on you. The more eyes, that gives you more opportunity for people to see who you are and see what your team is made of. The more eyes, the better.”

Staley on his comfort and confidence in his second season at SDSU

“A lot more comfortable. I can say this is my first time ever coming into the next year where I’m so familiar with a playbook I could teach people it. So, it got me more comfortable and more confident in my skills of playing to where I can play faster, and the coaches here they help me out a lot too so just a lot of confidence.”

Staley on improved on-field communication

“Communication, when everybody is locked in on something, again, this is year two for all of us. We have a majority of our starters back. So, everybody’s locked in. We have communication to where everything is simple, down to where we can play much faster. So, with us being here at State two years in a row, it for sure helps us be more connected and more communicative out over the field. We should know we’ve been playing with each other for a while.”

Bostick on his touchdown connection with Jayden Denegal

“I think that was just the whole offense executing at a high level. We had practiced that, and we were ready. So yeah, really, we can only control what we can control. Got a good look on that, they jumped offsides and then JD found me on the seam. It was pretty exciting.”

Bostick on his development during his first season at SDSU

“I am super grateful to be here. Ever since I came in, I felt like these guys have welcomed me with open arms. I am super blessed and thankful to be here. Obviously, it’s been an up-and-down roller coaster just with injuries in my career. But all you can do is control what you can control and so definitely have a different perspective and a whole lot of gratitude just for being on the field in every instance.”