Utah State notebook: USU pays tribute to past with new Aggie Hall of Honor

LOGAN — As part of homecoming festivities, Utah State cut the ribbon to the Steve Mothersell Aggie Hall of Honor on the ground floor of the new athletics complex in the north end zone.

The 1,800 square foot facility honors legends of Aggie athletics.

"The Aggie Athletics Hall of Honor is a wonderful celebration of history and heritage," USU athletics director Scott Barnes said. "The hall is one of the final pieces in completing the Jim & Carol Laub Athletics-Academics Complex and it makes a strong statement about the value we place in honoring the great achievements of current and former Utah State coaches and student-athletes."

More than 150 people donated money and time to complete the Hall of Honor, named after former USU tight end Steve Mothersell — an Aggie in the 1970s and now a real estate developer in California, and items displayed include Merlin Olsen's Outland Trophy and the discus thrown by L. Jay Silvester in the 1968 Olympics.

HOMECOMING FOR A THUNDERBIRD: While Utah State might have been the host, SUU's Mitch Jessop had a nice rooting section as well. Jessop, a true freshman, played his high school ball at nearby Mountain Crest.

Jessop has had a nice start to his Southern Utah career and had seven catches for 129 yards.

Against Utah State, Jessop was involved early as SUU was forced to use a pass-heavy offense after being unable to run the ball successfully.

He finished the game with four receptions for 49 yards.

MEMORY LANE: Gary Andersen isn't the only Utah State coach with Southern Utah ties. While Andersen was once the head coach in Cedar City, five of his current USU staff members have also spent time at SUU.

Linebackers coach Kevin Clune was the SUU defensive coordinator for two seasons. Kevin McGiven was the offensive coordinator for the T-Birds in 2005 and Ilaisa Tuiaki coached SUU's running backs for two seasons.

Charles Henderson is a graduate assistant at USU but played at SUU as did Aggie administrative assistant Ryan Zimmerman.

DOUBLE HUNDRED: Robert Turbin and Michael Smith combined for 204 yards on 25 carries.

Turbin's 104 yards and Smith's 100 marked the first time Utah State has had a pair of 100-yard rushers in the same game since Demetrius Brown (22-131) and Brett Payne (28-166) did it at Pacific in 1989.

e-mail: jeborn@desnews.com