LAS CRUCES, N.M. – NM State will be back at Aggie Memorial Stadium on Thursday night as it hosts Western Kentucky to open a stretch of four consecutive midweek Conference USA contests. This will also serve as the second of five straight nationally televised games for the Aggies.
 
GAME FIVE
Who: NM State (1-3, 0-0 CUSA) vs. Western Kentucky (1-2, 0-0 CUSA)
Where: Las Cruces, N.M. – Aggie Memorial Stadium (28,853)
When: Thursday, October 1, 2026 – 6 p.m. MT
 
HOW TO FOLLOW
Watch: CBS Sports Network
Play-by-Play: Justin Kutcher
Analyst: Ben DiNucci
 
Radio: 99.5 FM KXPZ / TuneIn App
Play-by-Play: MJ Newsom
Color Analyst: Cory Lucas
 
Spanish Radio: 96.7 FM La Equis
Play-by-Play: Darien Salayandia
Color Analyst: Jose Aragon
 
Live Stats: NMStateSports.com/Stats
 
LAST TIME OUT: NM STATE 18, NEW MEXICO 42
NM State concluded its non-conference schedule on Saturday with a 42-18 loss to New Mexico in front of 25,024 fans at Aggie Memorial Stadium in the 116th Rio Grande Rivalry. The Lobos built a 14-0 first-quarter lead before Ilya Uvaydov put the Aggies on the board with a 23-yard field goal, sending NM State into halftime trailing 14-3.
 
A pair of costly turnovers allowed New Mexico to pull away in the third quarter, scoring on three straight possessions to open a 35-3 advantage. Adam Damante provided a spark late, connecting with Myles Libman for a pair of touchdown passes as the Aggies accounted for 15 fourth-quarter points.
 
James Jones rushed for 112 yards to record his second 100-yard game of the season, while Libman finished with two touchdown receptions and Josiah Thomas posted a career-high 90 receiving yards.
 
JAMES JONES LEADS THE WAY             
Through his first four games with NM State, running back James Jones paces the Aggies with 355 rushing yards on 57 carries. With 88.8 rushing yards per game, Jones currently paces all Conference USA rushers and ranks 41st in the nation.
 
His 6.2 yards per carry also rank second among CUSA rushers and stands at 26th among all FBS players.
 
In his last three games, Jones has totaled 327 rushing yards on 46 carries. With his second 100-yard rushing game of the season, Jones becomes the first Aggie back to record two 100-yard games in a three-game stretch since Jason Huntley who did so in 2019 as he surpassed the century mark four times in his final six games as an Aggie.
 
Jones is familiar with big days in the backfield as he went over the 100-yard mark six times last season as a member of Delaware State. Dating back to his time with the Hornets, Jones has now rushed for 100-plus yards in five of his last eight games. Across his collegiate career, Jones has now rushed for 100-plus yards a total of 12 times, including four times at Garden City CC, six times at Delaware State and twice with the Aggies.
 
As a senior at Delaware State last season, Jones compiled 958 rushing yards on just 98 carries to post an average of 9.8 yards per carry and 87.1 yards per game.
 
KICKING OFF WEEKDAY CUSA                                 
Thursday's contest will mark the first of 18 nationally televised midweek Conference USA games. This season, the Aggies will play in four midweek games, including two at Aggie Memorial Stadium.
 
Through the first three seasons, the Aggies hold a record of 6-4 in midweek CUSA games. This will mark the first time that the Aggies collide with WKU during the midweek slate.
 
LIBMAN LIVING IN THE END ZONE    
On Saturday, wide receiver Myles Libman found the end zone twice in the second half, recording his first touchdowns with the program. With the performance, he became the first Aggie since 2023 to have two receiving touchdowns in a single game. The last player to do so was Trent Hudson who hauled in two touchdowns in the 2023 Conference USA Championship game.
 
MOVE THE STICKS                                           
Through three games, the Aggie offense has been one of the best in the country at converting on third down. Currently, NM State is converting on third down at a 50.0% clip to rank first in the conference and 20th in the nation. With this, the Aggies are one of just 30 teams in the country converting 50% of the time or more.
 
THOMAS' COMING OUT PARTY                              
Sophomore tight end Josiah Thomas had himself a day on Saturday against the Lobos as he tallied five catches for 90 yards. With this performance, he joins Gavin Harris as the only Aggie tight ends since at least 2015 to record 90 or more receiving yards in a single game. Interestingly, Harris also did so against New Mexico as he tallied 97 yards on six catches in 2025.
 
MORE COWBELL                                                
On Saturday against NM State, a total of 25,024 fans were in attendance. This marked the highest recorded attendance for a game at Aggie Memorial Stadium since 2019, when a total of 25,804 were on hand to watch the Aggies take on Incarnate Word on Nov. 16, 2010.
 
SPREAD THE LOVE                                          
Entering the fifth game of the year, a total of six different Aggies have caught passes for touchdowns this season as TK King (2), Myles Libman (2), AJ Williams III (1), Brodie Malone-Bradford (1), James Jones (1) and Terrione Graves (1) have all notched receiving touchdowns.
 
Similarly, a total of 14 different Aggies have caught at least one pass this season, including three different players with 10 or more receptions as King, Williams III and Josiah Thomas each caught double-digit catches thus far.
 
GOING THE OTHER WAY                            
Peters' scoop and score on the road at Hawaii marked the Aggies' second defensive touchdown of the young season after Nick Session recorded a pick-six against Mercyhurst earlier in the year. With this, NM State is one of just 17 FBS teams in the nation with two or more defensive touchdowns this year.
 
THE AGGIES IN CUSA                                                
The Aggies are now in their fourth year as members of Conference USA. NM State made quite the splash in its debut campaign - going 7-1 in league play on its way to an appearance in the CUSA Championship Game in addition to being one of only 27 FBS programs to reach the 10-win mark in 2023.
 
NM State has now won 11 games across its first three seasons in the new league and will officially begin conference play this Saturday against WKU.
 
SLINGING THE ROCK                                      
Despite carrying a 1-3 record through four games, the Aggies' offense has been among the best in Conference USA in several categories. Currently, the Aggies rank second in total offense (414.5), third in passing offense (278.5) and first in third down conversion percentage (50.0%).
 
KING OF THE GRIDIRON                             
After recording 41 catches for 588 yards to introduce himself to Aggie fans in 2025, TK King is off to a strong start to his final collegiate season.
 
Through four games in 2026, King paces all Aggie wideouts in receptions (18), receiving yards (265) and is tied for the team lead in receiving touchdowns (2). His 66.3 receiving yards per game ranks sixth among all CUSA wideouts.
 
Across two seasons with the Aggies, King has eclipsed 50 yards receiving eight times 12 contests, including going over 100 yards twice.
 
Offensive Coordinator David Yost will continue to look to utilize King to take the top off of the defense as the Houston native brings elite speed with him from the track to the football field. As a junior in high school, TK King ran a 10.21 in the 100-meter dash and placed third in the 200-meter dash at the 2021 Texas 6A state meet with a time of 20.74 seconds. 
 
WHERE TO WATCH THE AGGIES         
After just three of the Aggies' 12 games were featured on national networks in 2025, the Aggies will find themselves in the national spotlight six times this season. This year, NM State is slated to play three games on ESPN2, two games on CBS Sports Network and one game on The CW.
 
Week 5 marks the third time this season that the Aggies will play on national television as Justin Kutcher (PxP) and Ben DiNucci (Analyst) will be on the call for CBS Sports Network.
 
WHERE TO LISTEN TO THE AGGIES  
Once again, all games this season will air live on 99.5 FM KXPZ for those in Las Cruces and the surrounding areas. Radio broadcasts for all Aggie games will also be available to listen to nationwide via the TuneIn App. Radio play-by-play for Thursday's game will be provided by MJ Newsom, with analysis provided by Cory Lucas.
 
Additionally, all home games will be available in Spanish on 96.7 FM La Equis with the call provided by Darien Salayandia (play-by-play) and Jose Aragon (analyst).
 
For complete coverage of the NM State football program, visit NMStateSports.com - the official home of Aggie athletics - and follow the Aggies on Facebook (NM State Football), X (@NMStateFootball) and Instagram (@NMStateFB).