Have Safe Weekend, Coach Urges Aztecs : Colleges: Crime stories abound nationwide, so Luginbill reminds players to act responsibly during idle time.

The Aztecs (1-0-1) are ranked No. 23, and Luginbill hates to see their season interrupted--if only briefly.

But when he addressed the Aztecs after practice Friday, the subjects were alcohol, parties and women.

When there are games, Luginbill and the Aztec coaches are with the players from Friday afternoon until late Saturday night--Sundays if it is a road game. But when there are no games, there is only time. And time can get athletes into trouble.

"It's my biggest nightmare," Luginbill said. "I think of it constantly. It's like raising 90-some sons and, when one of them goes haywire, I take it personally. . . .

"The common denominator to most trouble is not drugs anymore. It's alcohol. We talk with our players about date rape, AIDS, substance abuse. We don't hide that stuff. I'm not afraid to talk to them about that stuff because they're not going to be shielded when they walk away from this university."

College athletes seemingly have gotten into trouble more than ever during the past year. Defensive backs are not only intercepting footballs--they are picking off other people's credit cards. Quarterbacks' audibles now include getting arrested on felony burglary charges.

"In the last five years, I've noticed the 'jurisprudence' sections in newspapers (sports sections)," Luginbill said. "We never used to have that.

"There is so much pressure on these 17- to 22-year-old kids to perform in class, on the football field, and to be model citizens. If they screw up in any area, the hammer comes down. We try to remind them of these things at San Diego State, and if they have the opportunity to make decisions, maybe somewhere in their minds it will click, 'This is wrong. I'm going to embarrass myself, the fans and my teammates.'

"We don't want to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated, or the Los Angeles Times, or the San Diego Union-Tribune with negative publicity for our football players. Our intent is to be a first-class program. You don't have to be goody-goody, but you can walk away from some instances that you don't have to be involved in.

"You don't have to be macho. These guys are already tougher than 95% of the people out there."

Still, crime is in attendance more and more on college fields. Flanker-return specialist David Palmer has been suspended at Alabama after two arrests for drunk driving. Two wide receivers have been suspended at Penn State after being arrested for burglary, theft and receiving stolen property. Three other Penn State players were cited after an off-campus fight, and another will go on trial later this year on charges of selling cocaine. At Miami, two players--including standout receiver Lamar Thomas--were indicted for student loan fraud.

The list goes on. Fifteen Arizona State athletes have been involved in run-ins with the law in the past 14 months. This week alone, an Ohio player was arrested for allegedly driving a stolen car and a Louisville player was charged with rape.

"My mom lives in (Phoenix) and she told me about the Arizona State situation," said SDSU cornerback Damon Pieri. "In their first game, against Washington, their top two quarterbacks were suspended. The Washington Huskies against the Arizona State Criminals--that's what they were calling it."

The Arizona State Criminals. State Penn. The nicknames are much more cute than the actual transgressions.

The Aztecs have not been totally on the sidelines. Linebacker Tracey Mao was arrested on felony assault charges two winters ago. He was retaliating for an incident in which quarterback David Lowery sustained a broken jaw. Mao, intoxicated at the time, spent a year in a halfway house, was suspended from the SDSU football team and had his scholarship revoked by Luginbill.

Mao, who still attends Alcoholics' Anonymous meetings, has returned to the SDSU team this season but was not given his scholarship back. By all accounts, Mao has grown up immensely in the past year.

"After the BYU game, my first thought was, 'I think I'll drink tonight,' " Mao said. "It surprised me. I was thinking about how happy everybody was, and everybody was thinking about a victory party. But that lasted maybe a minute.

"Nobody can predict what's going to happen tonight. You've just got to make smart decisions."

The BYU game nearly related to what could have been another Aztec disaster. After the Aztecs returned from BYU last Friday, offensive lineman Carlson Leomiti got into an argument in the parking lot of a 7-Eleven and had a gun pulled on him. The gun-wielding man was arrested before any more trouble developed, and nobody was hurt. But Luginbill has since banned his players from patronizing that particular store.

Luginbill hesitates to use the word "babysitting", though, when talking about a coach's responsibility.