New San Diego State AD JOHN DAVID WICKER is in Sin City this weekend for Saturday’s Las Vegas Bowl Presented by Geico against Houston on ABC. Wicker in late October returned to SDSU after a short stint at Georgia Tech, as he had previously held the position of Deputy AD at SDSU under former AD JIM STERK. “Everyone has been kidding me that I officially started two weeks ago and then we won a championship right off the bat," Wicker said of SDSU's Mountain West title. "Let’s hope this is only the beginning and it’s only going up from here. A lot of people are saying this a top-ten matchup so we’re very excited."
REAPING THE REWARDS: This week is a quick turnaround for us. Our team arrived on Tuesday so we’ve been getting everything set up and it’s challenging but also a lot of fun. The athletes work so hard during the year, it’s nice for them to have that payoff at the end of the season. So this is a business trip but at the same time it’s a reward for all the hard work that started back in August. Each day this week we’ve had team events leading up to the game. On Wednesday night we had a welcome reception provided by Outback Steakhouse and the players did a couple of community service events as well. Friday we have our kickoff luncheon which is kind of the last event before the players get into true game mode. For the rest of us, we have a pep rally Friday night where we’ll have our band and cheerleaders out for support. Both teams will be there so there’ll be some mingling and a bit of a “Battle of the Bands” type atmosphere. Fans get to mingle and have a good time as well. Saturday morning we’ve got a big pregame tailgate at Sam Boyd Stadium and then we kick off at 12:30pm.
FAMILIAR FACE: I was here for four years and then was gone for sixteen months and now I’m back. It’s nice to see that a lot of the things we worked so hard on while I was here previously have continued to pay off and we’re having success. The kids and the coaches are seeing their hard work being rewarded and that’s special for me. To spend so much time with our staff and their families has been great as well. DONNEL PUMPHREY is hopefully going to break the all-time NCAA rushing record. That would be a fantastic cap to what has been a great season for Aztec football.
FAMILY MAN: My family flew out on Wednesday for the game and I was incredibly excited as I hadn’t seen them since Thanksgiving. My three-year old daughter SCARLETT ANNE is a bundle of energy. In our free time my wife RACHEL and I will watch a lot of “BIG BANG THEORY,” “LIFE IN PIECES” and “MODERN FAMILY.” Watching those shows together gives us an opportunity to enjoy a glass of wine and catch up on the DVR.
