AZTECS UPDATE : NOTEBOOK / DANA HADDAD : Fickle Injury Causing Faulk to Take a Cautious Approach

SAN DIEGO —  When Marshall Faulk exited last week’s game for good at Colorado State with a little over six minutes left in the second quarter, the choice was his.

Faulk, who finished with 60 yards on 18 carries, said he will do the same again if he aggravates an injury to his left quadricep--no matter what the repercussions are on his bid for the Heisman Trophy.

Faulk suffers from a fickle injury, SDSU trainer Brian Barry said. One minute he can feel 100%. The next minute, Faulk can experience debilitating pain if the strained muscle is tweaked a certain way.

“It was giving me a lot of trouble,” Faulk said of Saturday’s flare-up. “I probably could have continued to play, but it probably would have just hurt the team with me being out there at 50% running with the ball.

“I’d be out there hurting the team just to benefit myself. We had some crucial drives out there, and it was a close game. It wasn’t cause for nobody to be playing macho man out there. I did what I could do, which was pass block.”

Faulk appeared in eight more plays--seven blocking and one running a pass route--because linear movements were painless. The injury, which originated during the Texas El Paso game, affected Faulk on his cutting and side-to-side motions.

“He made a wise decision,” Barry said. “His symptoms are less and less every week. We’re dealing with a joint capsule. If you torque it the wrong way, it’s going to flare back up.”

Faulk continues to lead the nation in rushing with 167.6 yards per game. He is ninth in scoring (62 points) and third in all-purpose running. He is nine yards short of passing Norm Nygaard (1952-54) for the Aztecs’ career rushing record--2,619 yards--and needs one touchdown to tie Paul Hewitt (1987-88) and Art Preston (1949-51) for the career mark in touchdowns: 33.

Faulk welcomed USC flanker/kick returner Curtis Conway into the Heisman race this week by offering praise. USC decided to launch a Conway campaign after he helped the Trojans defeat Arizona State Saturday with a 95-yard kick return for a touchdown.

“He made some great plays against us,” Faulk said. “He can do some great things with the ball, whether it’s catching, running with it . . . whenever he touches the ball, people sit on the edge of their seats waiting for something good to happen.”

Conway, a junior, is fourth in the nation in all-purpose yards, averaging 178.3 per game. He has 31 receptions for 497 yards and has scored eight touchdowns: five on receptions, one on a rush, one on a kick return and one on a 96-yard punt return.

Jake Nyberg, the second most experienced SDSU receiver behind Larry Maxey, has two receptions this year. They both came in the final quarter of a 35-7 loss to UCLA Sept. 26. On his second catch, a diving 20-yarder, Nyberg suffered a severe groin pull.

He was cleared to play last week, but didn’t. But with continued inconsistency in the ball-catching department, SDSU Coach Al Luginbill appeared eager for Nyberg’s return.

“He could really help our football team going down the stretch,” Luginbill said. “He would be a valued addition right now for certain things. He would be playing a lot of football for us right now if he was healthy.

“He had a great spring and a great fall.”

SDSU’s defense will be without four key players in Wyoming. Defensive end Tyrone Morrison (knee ligament) and strong safety Chris Johnson (severed tendons in his left forearm) are out for the season.

Two other starters, defensive ends Terrill Steen (knee sprain) and Romando Stallings (ankle sprain) won’t make trip. Barry said Steen and Stallings should be ready for the following week’s game against Hawaii.

Luginbill said the injuries should not handicap the defense, because of depth. First-team and second-team linemen and linebackers alternate each game.

“They’re going to come up big,” Luginbill said. “If this injury situation hit us two years ago, we would have been non-competitive. If John McCartney plays in the game like he did in practice all week, we’ll be fine Saturday.”

McCartney, a redshirt freshman from Lincoln High, will replace Johnson at strong safety.