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Mountain West Leader UNLV Hits the Road for a Test at Conference Foe San Jose State

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Football

First-place UNLV (4-1/2-0) takes a three-game win streak -- its longest since 2013 -- on the road to San Jose State (3-1/1-0) for a second straight Friday night game.

The Rebels, who already doubled their victory total from the last two seasons combined, look to move to 3-0 in Mountain West play for the first time ever and for the first time in any league since 1994 en route to a Big West Conference championship. UNLV, which is 2-0 in the MW for only the second time (2013), already has four wins in its first five games of a season for the first time since 2003 under Hall of Fame head coach John Robinson. The Rebels are coming off a 31-21 home win over New Mexico and UNLV has scored at least 30 points in four of its first five games for the first time in history.

After starting 0-14 at UNLV, head coach Marcus Arroyo has won six of his last nine games. Louisville grad transfer RB Aidan Robbins is tied with three others for second in the FBS with nine total scores (eight rushing, one receiving). UNLV is tied with Memphis for second in the nation in turnover margin at plus-nine (USC leads college football at +14). The Rebels rank second in the country with 11 interceptions (USC is No. 1 with 12).

REBELS vs. SPARTANS NOTES...
SJSU leads the all-time series 18-7-1 and has won six straight at home vs. the Rebels. The most recent UNLV victory at SJSU came in 1993. UNLV head coach Marcus Arroyo lettered three times at quarterback for the Spartans between 1998-2002, passing for a total of 4,628 yards and 28 touchdowns for SJSU (did not face UNLV).

Arroyo is the third UNLV head coach to face his alma mater while leading the Rebels as original coach Bill Ireland went 2-2 vs. UNR from 1969-72 and Tony Knap went 2-0 vs. Idaho in 1977 and '78. Arroyo spent five seasons coaching at SJSU, which included four years (2005-08) along with current Spartans' HC Brent Brennan on Dick Tomey's staff: student asst. in 2003, GA in '05, QBs in '06 and Co-OC/QBs from 2007-08.

Third-year UNLV LB coach/Associate Head Coach Kenwick Thompson oversaw the Spartans' LB/DL from 2001-06 and returned as DC in 2013. SJSU DL coach Joe Seumalo was a member of the UNLV staff in 2015.