The search for someone to consistently field punt returns continued. Whittingham said a group of guys were working hard and a decision willl be made by Thursday.

CONFERENCE CALL: Like most of his colleagues during the Mountain West's weekly teleconference on Tuesday, Whittingham was asked about the league's 4-0 success against the Pac-10 last Saturday.

"You can't talk yourself into respectability. You have to play yourself into it," Whittingham said of the MWC's need to play well against BCS teams. "I think that's exactly what we did on Saturday."

At the very least, he added, the MWC took a step in the right direction.

DOWNTOWN FREDDIE BROWN: It took Utah receiver Freddie Brown 31 games to catch his first touchdown pass for the Utes. Now, the senior has scored in two consecutive games.

"Why it's taken to this point and time for his production level to go up ... that's a good question," Whittingham said. "But apparently the light switch has gone on for Freddie and we're hoping to get solid play from him week in and week out."

Brown is Utah's third-leading receiver after three games this season. He has 11 catches for 156 yards, including touchdown receptions against UNLV (32 yards) and Utah State (10 yards).

In his first three seasons with the Utes, Brown made 39 catches for 458 yards.

MARTINEZ OUT, AGAIN: LInebacker Matt Martinez, a major special teams contributor, will be sidelined for the rest of the season after tearing a biceps muscle in the win over Utah State. He'll have surgery soon. Martinez, a sophomore, suffered a season-ending knee injury in last year's opener at Oregon State and is expected to be awarded another year of eligibility.

EXTRA POINTS: Whittingham confirmed that highly touted running back Sausan Shakerin of Alta High School is in "redshirt mode" this season and will stay there "barring disaster" ... Weber State still has tickets available for the Sept. 27 game against the Utes at Rice-Eccles Stadium ... Air Force is the only MWC team that Utah has an overall losing record against. The Utes are 10-14 vs. the Falcons.

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Contributing: Dirk Facer

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E-mail: sor@desnews.com