Coming off a Mountain West Conference championship season in 2012, there’s much to look forward to as the Aztecs prepare to take the field this fall. After finishing with a 7-1 conference play record, along with appearing in three-straight bowl games, the expectations have continued to rise for the Aztec football program these past few seasons.

Three Aztecs were selected in this year’s NFL draft, losing key players on both the offensive and defensive ends. It will be up to the returning players to continue San Diego State’s football success and the future of this year’s diverse freshman recruiting class.

This past February on National Letter-of-Intent Day, SDSU football head coach Rocky Long addressed the media, saying he honestly wouldn’t know if many of the 2013 freshman recruits would play immediately.

“Coaches can brag about their recruiting class, but now that they’re signed, to tell you the truth, you won’t know if they can play for a couple years,” Long said.

This class is composed of 12 defensive and 12 offensive players all recruited from 11 different states, 21 of which are incoming freshman football recruits.

“We don’t care what the scouting service’s evaluation is, we don’t care how many ‘stars’ they get, we evaluate for the kids that will fit into our program,” Long said. “I think we’ve done a good job over the last three years. This class here, I think we’ve done a really good job of evaluating, but you’ll find out when they start playing …”

Freshman Offensive Player to Watch:

If there is a freshman player to watch this year, you may want to keep your eyes on wide receiver Julius Wilson. On top of being a wide receiver, Wilson may be given the opportunity to play some special teams because of his blazing speed.

He recorded a time of 4.4 seconds for his 40-yard dash and according to Rivals.com from Yahoo Sports, Wilson is listed as a three-star recruit coming from Culver City High School. Wilson also received offers from powerhouse Pac-12 schools, including the universities of California, Berkley and Los Angeles in addition to Washington State.

Freshman Defensive Player to Watch:

On the defensive end, a freshman to look out for in the future is defensive back Kalan Montgomery from Dominguez High School in Compton. Montgomery is also a three-star recruit according to Rivals.com, and was offered scholarships from universities of Arizona, Nevada, and Hawaii before deciding to become an Aztec.

As a defensive back, he has the potential to fulfill the role of former Aztec defensive back Leon McFadden, who was recently drafted to the NFL by the Cleveland Browns.

Local Freshmen to Watch:

Along with the 2013 freshman recruiting class, the Aztecs landed three local recruits from San Diego. They include Mira Mesa High School football standouts defensive back Trey Lomax and wide receiver Addison Morrow.

The Aztecs also signed perhaps their most intriguing local player Fred Melifonwu from Lincoln High School. Melifonwu is a 6-foot-5, 210-pound outside linebacker and three-star recruit who received offers from rival MWC schools University of New Mexico, Nevada and San Jose State before choosing SDSU.

On national signing day, Long described the local players he was able to recruit saying, “All three of them have a lot of upside to them. They’re good athletes that have played on both sides of the ball … all three of the San Diego guys can play multiple positions.”

Coming Up:

The Aztecs will open the 2013 season next month welcoming Eastern Illinois University on Aug. 31, before hitting the road to Columbus, Ohio to face the mighty Ohio State Buckeyes on Sept. 7. Conference play will begin on Oct. 4 when the Aztecs first welcome Nevada to Qualcomm Stadium.

Being the defending MWC co-champions, it’s no secret that the expectations are on the rise for Aztec football, as fans should continue to expect a tradition of winning.