With three weeks left in the Mountain West Conference season, the race for the league championship can't officially be decided this week.

But one game this weekend will completely shape the stretch run as No. 4 TCU hosts No. 16 Utah in a battle of the last two MWC unbeatens.

"It's a big game in the fact that it's for sole possession of first place in the conference," Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said during the league's weekly coaches teleconference. "Obviously, the winner will have the inside track for the championship.

"Another big game."

In all likelihood, it'll be the conference's biggest game of the season.

A victory by the Horned Frogs would virtually lock them into the conference title and cement them as the top candidate for Bowl Championship Series buster.

A Utes' victory would put them in the driver's seat to win the MWC, but an impending matchup with in-state rival BYU would create a flurry of late-season dramatics.

"Right now, we're trying to only worry about things that we can control," TCU coach Gary Patterson said. "Like I tell my kids, 'If you want to sit at home and drink the BCS kool-aid and the BCU kool-aid, go ahead. But we've got three games left, three tough games.'"

Saturday's tussle with the Utes is by far the hardest.

If the Horned Frogs get by Utah, all that will stand in the way of an undefeated season is a trip to Wyoming -- which has lost three straight games in which they've mustered just 600 yards of total offense -- and a home finale against New Mexico, which still has yet to win a game.

That said, the defending MWC-champion Utes -- who won last year's meeting of top-20 teams with a last-minute touchdown in Salt Lake City -- aren't about to roll over.

"We are the defending champs, and that's something that's obviously a fact," Whittingham said. "You've got to take it away. ... It's something our guys are proud of, winning that championship last year."

That said, the Horned Frogs were 20-point favorites in Las Vegas on Tuesday.

With one of the top defenses in the country -- again -- and an offense that flies under the radar with Andy Dalton at the helm, TCU does look like a heavy favorite on paper against a team that is ranked but needed an offensive shakeup in the last two weeks.

"TCU has a quarterback that's played an awful lot of football, and he's in his fourth year in their program, a third-year starter who's a tremendous weapon," Air Force coach Troy Calhoun said. "Utah, a veteran defense and offensively, those guys have been in some big games."

Now they'll take part in this year's biggest in the Mountain West Conference.

AZTECS FOCUS ON SENIOR NIGHT: San Diego State is in the same position as Wyoming, their opponent this week, in that a victory could go a long way in opening the door to the postseason.

But the Aztecs are taking a bit of a different approach than the Cowboys, focusing solely on the final home game for their seniors instead of thinking about a bowl game.

"For us, it's so important [for] our seniors," San Diego State coach Brady Hoke said. "This being their last game to play, last home game at Qualcomm, that's probably as significant as anything that we look at as a team and as a staff."

GOING TO HIGH-DEF: This week marks the first of three in a row to end the season in which the MountainWest Sports Network (the mtn.) will broadcast games in high definition.

The Cowboys, who travel to San Diego State this week before hosting TCU and then travelling to Colorado State, will be televised in HD for all three games, but that doesn't mean fans will necessarily see it that way as the carrier determines which games are broadcast in HD.

In Wyoming, subscribers to All West in Cokeville and Evanston, James Cable in Douglas and Torrington and TCT West in Basin will see games in HD.

Contact Laramie-based UW sports reporter Eric Schmoldt at eric.schmoldt@trib.com. Check out his blog at tribtown.trib.com/ESchmoldt/blog

MWC TRACKER

TUESDAY: The Mountain West Conference's football coaches took part in their weekly media teleconference.

ALL ON THE LINE: This Saturday will likely feature the biggest game of the Mountain West Conference season as TCU keeps its BCS hopes on the line with Utah, the only other undefeated team in league play.

HE SAID IT: "Like I tell my kids, 'If you want to sit at home and drink the BCS kool-aid and the BCU kool-aid, go ahead. But we've got three games left, three tough games.'" -- TCU coach Gary Patterson.

SATURDAY'S GAMES: No. 22 BYU at New Mexico, noon, on the mtn; UNLV at Air Force, 4 p.m., on the mtn.; No. 16 Utah at No. 4 TCU, 5:30 p.m., on CBS College; Wyoming at San Diego State, 8 p.m., on the mtn.