But Fresno State's Pat Hill, fresh off a Boise State beatdown, made a serious move by reportedly showing up in Seattle on Saturday for an official interview. The Fresno Bee reported two unidentified airport employees witnessed his presence at the airport facility Saturday morning, and the Seattle Times went with it. The Times also says UW is expected to interview Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly.

At New Mexico, two Oklahoma State assistant coaches are reportedly candidates to interview for Rocky Long's job.

Apparently going the route of Wyoming for some offense, Rivals.com reports that OSU associate head coach Joe DeForest and running backs coach Curtis Luper are being considered for the job. The ties are this: Current New Mexico president David Schmidly was Oklahoma State's president from 2002-07. Luper was also formerly an assistant at New Mexico under Long.

The Tulsa World is reporting Florida offensive coordinator Dan Mullen, UCLA's Walker and Arizona offensive coordinator Sonny Dykes are also in the mix at Oklahoma State.

OSU athletics director Mike Holder said Sunday that New Mexico officials have not contacted him about speaking with DeForest or Luper.

In San Diego, athletic director Jeff Schemmell held an informal meeting with reporters from his hospital bed last week and proclaimed, "The interest in this job is phenomenal."

We're still waiting word on exactly who is seriously considered viable. The one name that media folks have latched on to in this "top secret' hiring process is former Minnesota coach Glen Mason, whom then-UM athletic director Schemmell hired from Kansas to Minnesota in 1996.

Mason, considered a CEO-type who can fix failed enterprises, is currently an analyst for the Big Ten Network.

Would the Aztecs seriously hire Mason off a TV set?

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E-mail: dharmon@desnews.com