Matt McClanahan, Staff Columnist

The most genuinely frightening, manhood-shriveling brutes haunting San Diego State are lumbering about the foothills of the eastern Rocky Mountains. There are at least 60 of them, and they’re all wearing facemasks and gilt pants hugging tighter than a vampire’s bite. They make up Wyoming’s football team. For Halloween, they’ll pretend to be good.

Boo.

I hate to scare you like that. But I had to get your attention. And what better tactic to use than fear? Come high noon Mountain Standard Time Saturday, the Cowboys will have steel revolvers drawn, loaded, clicked, cocked and unconcealed. Their goal is a bowl game, but a loss to SDSU would exhaust postseason ambitions. Wyoming has its spurs against the wall. The best thing the Aztecs can do is avoid getting kicked in the rawhide and / or cowbells. If the Cowboys do connect with the boot, the gold and brown are likely bowl-bound.

If you went trick or treating on the doorstep of Wyoming’s losing record, you’d get tricked. The Cowboys are 2-6. But their record is the specter of a formidable team that has trudged through a thicket of top-10 units and quality opponents.

But SDSU can relax and grab a cold antifogmatic (raw rum or whiskey in old cowboy speak). The Aztecs at 5-2 are almost assuredly bowl-bound win or lose, considering they’ve got two Lily Livers in UNLV and Colorado State left on the ballot.

But if it’s a Mountain West Conference championship SDSU wants … well, then put down the antifogmatic. The Aztecs must beat the Cowboys to control their own destiny.

Wyoming sophomore quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels won MWC Freshman of the Year last season, leading his team to five fourth-quarter comebacks, including one brilliantly orchestrated heart-stopper against SDSU, which ultimately left the Aztecs disheveled, bedraggled and bowless come December 2009.

But Samuels has struggled mightily thus far with fewer than 1,000 passing yards. Following his most recent loss against BYU, Samuels said his offense found a groove in the second half against the Cougars, and he is much more confident going forward.

Samuels won’t see the same SDSU team he beat in the waning moments last year. You’ve got to be proud of these Aztecs. I once read that character is how you respond after getting kicked in the unmentionables. This year, head coach Brady Hoke’s boys have bounced back with tremendous elasticity.

Even so, this game against the Cowboys is scary. Almost as scary as the dead man peering over your shoulder.

Boo.