LOGAN — According to Utah State football coach Brent Guy, the Aggies take two primary things with them as they look back on the 34-14 loss to BYU.

First, confidence in the way the team recovered from a disastrous and game-deciding first quarter. The Aggies fell behind 24-0 thanks to numerous turnovers and BYU's big-play scores.

Second, USU can look back on the BYU game as the end of the nonconference schedule and focus on the Western Athletic Conference.

"We can't start so slow on the road this week," Guy said. "We have to start fast and get into the football game against San Jose State and not make critical errors early that can give them momentum."

Utah State, 1-4 overall and 1-0 in the WAC, has enjoyed being in first place — whether alone or in a tie — for three weeks now. And after Saturday's date with the Spartans, the Aggies would like to still be there.

"The WAC is our main focus. We need to come out and play one game at a time," USU cornerback Roy Hurst said. "We feel we have a shot at it and every game if we come out and play to our ability. If we don't cause critical mistakes and play focused we have a shot at each game."

The Spartans are one of four WAC teams still unbeaten in the conference standings. With the rough preseason behind them — USU's non-WAC foes have a combined 17-4 record — the Aggies hope to have what it takes to stay near the top of the conference.

"We'd like to take the steps to be in the top third of the conference," Guy said. "That's something we haven't done in three years so far."

WAC WIN STREAK: The Aggies are, remarkably, the team with the longest conference winning streak in the WAC. Thanks to back-to-back wins at Idaho and New Mexico State to end the 2007 season and a 42-17 win over the Vandals three weeks ago, the Aggies have won three straight conference games.

Nevada and San Jose State have each won two in a row.

In case you're wondering, USU's last WAC loss was an ugly one — a 52-0 home drubbing to Boise State.

MISSED OPPORTUNITIES: Utah State is living proof that in football it's not better to give than to receive.

Through five games, the Aggies have turned the ball over 10 times and been on the takeaway end nine times. While that seems to be a near-wash, the difference has been profound on what happens after those turnovers.

USU opponents have scored eight times off Aggies turnovers for 48 points. Utah State, on the other hand, is converting its extra possessions into points only 55 percent of the time and has only 31 points courtesy of opponent giveaways.

"When you spot a team 21 points like we did with the three turnovers and then self-destruct a couple of times ourselves when we had opportunities, it hurts you," Guy said. "We have to play better in the first half. We did similar type things in the Idaho game and that is probably the thing we are emphasizing the most this week."

BOREL'S MOTIVATION: After the loss to BYU a week ago, dozens of fans flooded the post-game radio call-in show. Many were encouraged by the fight Utah State showed over the final three quarters against the highly ranked Cougars. Others were still disappointed in yet another loss.

One, however, was particularly eager to tell Aggie fans to watch out for quarterback Diondre Borel this week at San Jose State — a school the caller claimed did not recruit the USU quarterback when he was playing at nearby Freedom High School.

That caller? Diondre's mother, Betty.

TV TIME SWITCH: Because the ESPN family of channels decided to pick up the game, the official kickoff time has been moved up to 4:30 from 5 p.m. The game will be seen on ESPNU.

Aggies on the air

Utah State (1-4, 1-0 WAC) at San Jose State (3-2,1-0)

Saturday, 4:30 p.m.

TV: ESPNU

Radio: 1320 AM

E-mail: jeborn@desnews.com