Max Hall has a school record within his reach while knowing another milestone is probably not going to happen.
With the Mountain West Conference championship all but decided, Hall will have to settle for trying to become the winningest quarterback in BYU history Saturday when the No. 19 Cougars host Air Force in Provo, Utah.
As much as Hall would rather be playing with a conference title on the line Saturday, he knows what a 30th win as BYU's starting quarterback would mean.
``It's not a distraction at all. It's a big deal. It's going to be quite an accomplishment if I can get that,'' said Hall, who tied Ty Detmer's school record last week with his 29th win as the starter. ``I put it back of my mind though. It's not like I want to win the game for the record. I want to win it for our guys and for the season. If we do win, after the game it's going to be something kind of special to think about.''
What Hall wants as much is to finish his career with another conference championship at BYU (8-2, 5-1). The chances of that pretty much ended with a blowout loss to TCU at home on Oct. 24. Once the No. 4 Horned Frogs routed Utah last week, the Mountain West was pretty much won.
TCU would have to lose its final two games for BYU to be able to win the title. Considering the Frogs' 10-0 start, upsets at Wyoming on Saturday or at home next week against winless New Mexico are extremely unlikely.
``Every year we want to be the conference champions. That's our goal and obviously that goal is going to be pretty tough to reach now,'' Hall said. ``But you just keep playing. I think we still can have a successful season.''
Hall did win a conference championship as a sophomore, his first year playing for the Cougars, and will still be high in the record book of a school known for producing quarterbacks. Only Detmer, the 1990 Heisman Trophy winner, and John Beck have passed for more career yards than Hall's 10,662.
Hall still has three games to improve on his standing: Saturday against the Falcons (7-4, 5-2), next week at home against rival Utah and then whatever bowl the Cougars end up playing in.
It will be a good career once he's willing to look back on it. But it won't be the dream senior season he was hoping for, especially after the Cougars' upset of Oklahoma in the season opener.
Now BYU is relegated to playing for second place.
``I know what the expectations here are, I would love to finish at the top of the league every year and I think we have a very good team,'' BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said. ``I think we'll play very well the next two weeks and in postseason, so I'll just leave it at that.''
Air Force is closing out the regular season Saturday and is trying to extend a three-game winning streak.
``They're a great football team. They're coached well. They're disciplined and they've got good guys,'' Hall said. ``I think they're playing with a different swagger and confidence than they have in years past.''
November has been a good month for the Falcons under coach Troy Calhoun, who is the first coach in school history to win seven or more games in his first three seasons.
The Falcons are 7-2 in November during Calhoun's tenure and have won four of their last five games.
``You have to play like a seasoned football team, which we are later in the year,'' Calhoun said. ``Because of it, I expect us to play well.''
