This year's matchup: An overview

Run defense has long been a weakness for San Jose State since Mike MacIntyre left after the 2012 season. In a two-game losing streak, strong run games by the opponents proved to be the differences in losses at Nevada (41-38) and for homecoming vs. San Diego State (27-17).

Senior fullback Connor Slomka (6-0, 240) leads Army in rushing with 425 yards and three touchdowns. Senior quarterback Kelvin Hopkins Jr. (5-10, 205) has 354 yards and five touchdowns, and four other players are in the triple digits in rushing yards, including Sandon McCoy (285 yards, 4 TD) and Kell Walker (169 yards, 2 TD). As a passer, Hopkins is 25-for-58 for 402 yards, three touchdowns, and three interceptions.

This game will also be a meeting of two top-25 turnover margins. At plus-two on the season, Army has the 22nd highest turnover margin in all of FBS football, while San Jose State (plus-11) is tied for second with San Diego State. San Jose State will need to take care of the ball against an Army defensive unit that has recovered nine fumbles on the season, tied for sixth in the nation.

San Jose State must watch out for Army defensive back Elijah Riley, who leads Army in sacks with 4.0. He can also defend the pass, with four passes defended and one interception, and has a fumble recovery.

This year's Army team has a rather conservative offense averaging only 25.7 points and 326.0 yards, but a time of possession averaging 31:30 and strong defense that gives up only 21.7 points per game make up for that.

So far this season, Army can play up or down to any opponent. In the season opener, Army beat a Rice team that is now 0-7 by a score of just 14-7. The following week, Army led twice in the first half and scored first in overtime before losing 24-21 at then-no. 7 Michigan. Army then had its two largest margins of victory this year, 31-13 at UTSA (3-4, 2-2 C-USA) and 52-21 vs. Morgan State (an FCS team that is now 1-6). Since the Morgan State game, Army has lost three in a row: 42-33 vs. Tulane (5-2, 2-1 The American), 17-8 at Western Kentucky (5-2, 4-0 C-USA), and 28-21 at Georgia State (5-2, 2-1 Sun Belt). Western Kentucky scored the first 17 points and held Army scoreless until inside the final two minutes.

In spite of San Jose State's struggles against run heavy offenses, there could be a glimmer of hope that San Jose State could at least play a close game, given that Army struggled to beat a now winless Rice team by just seven points and lost to high-scoring Tulane and Georgia State teams. This year, San Jose State currently averages 27.6 points and 395.3 yards per game.

Now in his sixth season, Army head coach Jeff Monken arrived to an Army program that had just two winning seasons from 1996 to 2013. Since 2016, Army has had three straight winning seasons, and this year appears bound to be a fourth.

The wins against Arkansas and New Mexico this year might have gotten the fans off his back regarding his ability to win FBS games, but San Jose State head coach Brent Brennan still faces many questions about his suitability for this job long term. Fans and media observers will be watching the rest of the season very closely. Similar to Army, San Jose State had just three winning seasons in the same 1996 to 2013 time period that preceded Monken's first season. However, the 11-2 season in 2012 remains the last time San Jose State has had a winning season. Time will tell if Brennan will be a turnaround guru or yet another dud of a coaching hire who might have made things worse than his predecessor, Ron Caragher.

In fact, speaking in his weekly talk show on Wednesday night, Brennan recalled how after last year's game in Santa Clara against Army, Monken gave him encouragement and compared San Jose State to where Army was when Monken began his job in 2014.