San Diego State is coming off its most lopsided loss of the season.

Falling 56-24 at now-No. 12 Boise State had the SDSU coaching staff and players reviewing and reflecting on what transpired before looking ahead to this week’s Mountain West game against New Mexico.

“Sometimes part of this learning process, the growth and mastering skill and building the culture, can be pretty messy,” SDSU coach Sean Lewis said, “and sometimes that means getting punched in the face and taking a good old American ass-whooping.”

Lewis believes that “at times that’s going to stimulate growth, and the guys will respond the right way through all of it.”

The response is at hand as SDSU (3-5, 2-1 MW) takes the field against New Mexico (3-6, 2-3). The Aztecs are 2 1/2-point favorites coming into the game at Snapdragon Stadium. Kickoff is 7:30 p.m. for a game that will air on Fox Sports 1.

Here are five things to watch:

1. Potential shootout

New Mexico ranks 26th in the nation in scoring with 34.8 points a game. The Lobos have scored more than 30 points six times. It includes 50 points or more during a three-game winning streak against New Mexico State, Air Force and Utah State.

SDSU hasn’t scored at least 30 points since a season-opening 45-14 victory over Texas A&M-Commerce. If there ever was a game for the “AztecFAST” offense to light up the scoreboard, this is it.

For as good as New Mexico’s offense has been, the Lobos’ defense has been that bad — and even worse. The Lobos are allowing 40.8 points a game (131st in the nation) and 492.3 yards in total offense (130th).

“It certainly has the potential to be (a shootout), with the explosive playmaking ability on both sides of the ball,” said Lewis. “They’ve been in quite a few as they’ve gone through, but as things sort out, each individual play and each individual game is kind of unique.”

Lewis said he’s been doing this long enough to know that you can anticipate and prepare all you want, only to see things unfold in unexpected ways.

“When the lights come on and things start to sort out in front of you,” Lewis said, “the pieces on the chess board start moving around, then youve got to do a great job managing the situation that you’re in.”

2. Slowing Dampier

The explosiveness in New Mexico’s offense is directly linked to 5-foot-10 sophomore quarterback Devon Dampier.

The dual-threat Phoenix native is coming off a game against Wyoming in which he passed for one touchdown and rushed for three others. Dampier’s third rushing TD went for 85 yards and was the second-longest run from scrimmage in school history. He gained 207 yards on 12 carries against the Cowboys.

For the season, Dampier has rushed for 13 touchdowns and passed for 10 TDs (with 12 interceptions).

“Its amazing on some of these long runs where hes able to maintain full speed, or even gain full speed while hes changing directions,” Lewis said. “Its almost like hes rolling down a water slide at times, right? …

“You’ve got to do a great job maintaining where hes going to be and keeping a cage around him. Otherwise, if he catches a crease, hes dynamic.”

New Mexico has other standouts.

Running back Eli Sanders, the team’s second-leading rusher, had 205 yards on 17 carries against Wyoming. That made New Mexico only the ninth school in NCAA history with a pair of 200-yard rushers in the same game.

Wide receivers Luke Wysong (50 catches, 663 yards, TD) and Ryan Davis (41 catches, 587 yards, 2 TDs) have combined for more receptions than everyone else on the roster.

Notable numbers, but stopping No. 4 — Dampier — will be the priority.

3. SDSU linebackers

Linebacker is one of the deepest positions on the Aztecs’ roster, but that depth has been tested in recent weeks.

Starting linebackers Tano Letuli and Owen Chambliss both suffered right hand injuries last month that required surgery and heavy padding to return to the field.

Letuli hasn’t missed a beat, with 10 tackles in back-to-back games. Chambliss missed last week’s game at Boise State and did not practice the first two days this week, so his participation against the Lobos is in doubt.

The backups at Chambliss’ weakside position are senior Cody Moon and Brady Anderson, who both have had leg injuries.

Moon was limited to non-contact drills on Monday, but was back at it again on Tuesday. He has added incentive to suit up against New Mexico, having played three seasons for the Lobos — he was their leading tackler in 2022 — before transferring to SDSU last year.

4. Snapdragon turf

SDSU’s home game against Washington State two weeks ago was notable for all the sand kicked up each play.

That’s when conversations about field conditions at Snapdragon Stadium took root. A few days later, that talk took off when the San Diego Wave FC match was moved to Louisville.

Lewis tamped things down on Monday, saying, “I don’t have any concerns safety-wise at all. Weve had great conversation about where its at.”

SDSU senior cornerback Bryce Phillips literally expects a home-field advantage.

“It has to be an advantage for us at this point,” Phillips said. “We know what were going into. We know what we have to do. Planting off one foot, you know its going to be slippery, so you’ve got to plant off that (correct) foot.

“As an offense, theyre not going to be ready for it.”

One would hope that two weeks for the field to be rested and readied should be more than adequate for conditions to improve.

5. What a win means

Both teams need three victories to reach bowl eligibility and signal progress with their programs.

SDSU was bowl-eligible 13 straight seasons before going 4-8 last year in Brady Hoke’s final year.

The Aztecs are expected to be double-digit underdogs next week at UNLV. They should be favored against Utah State and Air Force.

That means SDSU has to beat New Mexico or the Aztecs will be required to run the table if they are to go bowling.

New Mexico already has played nine games, so the Lobos have to run the table to get to six wins. Theirs is a taller task. They face Washington State and Hawaii to close out the season.

The Lobos have been bowl-eligible only four times over the past 20 years, the last time in 2016. Eight straight losing seasons followed.