Barnes compares his budget to a three-legged stool — self-generated funds, institutional support and student fees.

"When you compare a school like ours to Utah or BYU, our ability for self-generated revenue is not at the same level," he said. "Our alumni base isn't as large and our markets aren't as large and prosperous for us to generate that kind of revenue."

Because of that, USU has had to rely more on student fees and institutional support. The referendum to increase student fees enough to put $2 million into the athletic budget was controversial on campus but vital for Utah State to remain a viable FBS (formerly called Division I) school.

"We were fortunate to get a student referendum passed on our campus, which will certainly answer one of the three," Barnes said. "But all along we've said it isn't the total answer to our problems, just one piece of the puzzle. We have to all work harder and smarter in self-generated area. We're getting closer but we're not there yet."

Barnes said they've overhauled the entire development operations at USU, created a new model for selling season tickets and found creative ways for generating external revenues.

USU employees already participated in a five-day furlough to save money, and Barnes is looking at any means to save more, including eliminating land lines, making media guides paperless and cutting back on administrative travel.

"We're saving tens of thousands, but not millions like we need," he said. "At a time like this, it's even more difficult to generate those external revenues, but we have seen progress."

The Aggies have always relied on "guarantee" games in football, which has often hurt the program because of too many early-season losses. Barnes wants to continue those games on a limited basis under a new scheduling philosophy but adds, "We want to be smarter."

Future Aggie schedules will include one guarantee game, one FCS (formerly Division I-AA) game at home, a game with either Utah or BYU and a game against a regional FBS school.

This year the Aggies will play at Texas A&M, next year at Oklahoma and in 2011 at Auburn. The latter game will be at the market rate of $950,000, nearly double the Oklahoma guarantee, a big addition to the USU budget.

BYU has the largest athletic budget in the state at just over $30 million, but it also has the most sponsored intercollegiate sports with 21.

Holmoe said he hasn't had to cut any programs or people, although the athletic department is participating in a campuswide hiring freeze. He's grateful for recent surpluses, which will help subsidize the program during the tough times.