San Diego State's problem is on the other side of the ball. The Aztecs are 3-5 overall and 2-2 in conference. They've given up 41 to Toledo, 66 to Oregon State and 56 to Colorado State in their last 5. They do have one real thing going for them: in that same stretch they've won both home games by a combined 5 points, 31-29 over Texas State and 26-23 over Fresno State. Those are coin flips, but they won both.
The two teams share some opponents, and the comparisons go both ways. Oregon State beat both, but Washington State lost by 18 in Corvallis while San Diego State lost by 52 there. Fresno State went the other direction: it beat the Cougars 26-6 in Pullman, then lost 26-23 at San Diego State 2 weeks later. So the Cougars defend better than the Aztecs, and the Aztecs can actually score. San Diego State put up 49 at Colorado State and still lost. Washington State has topped 24 only once in its last 5.
Washington State's defense has its own leak. Spokesman-Review reporting on the Boise game had the Cougars allowing their 3rd scoring play of 70-plus yards in 2 weeks, after Dylan Riley went 72 yards to put the game away while defenders took bad pursuit angles. Safety Jeremiah Bernard also missed that game for undisclosed reasons. If he's still out, an offense that just hung 49 on the road will go looking for that same weakness.
The early forecast for San Diego is 67 degrees and cloudy with a 38% chance of rain. A week out, that can change. Neither team is ranked and neither is going anywhere big this season. The question is whether Washington State's defense can hold up long enough for an offense that barely runs the ball, or whether San Diego State's defense lets the Cougars hang around in another one-score game at home.