FACTS & STATS: Site: Falcon Stadium (46,692) -- United States Air Force Academy, Colorado. Television: CBSCSN. Home Record: Army 2-3, Air Force 3-1. Away Record: Army 1-2, Air Force 2-3. Neutral Record: Army 0-0, Air Force 0-0. Conference Record: Army 0-0, Air Force 4-2. Series Record: Air Force leads, 29-13-1.

GAME NOTES: Another part of the series that is the annual Commander-in- Chief's Trophy takes place this weekend as the Air Force Falcons entertain the Army Black Knights in non-conference play at Falcon Stadium.

For the last six years the award has been owned by the Navy Midshipmen and appears as though that academy may retain the trophy yet again this season as the Midshipmen have already beaten Air Force (16-13) in overtime last month and will be suiting up against Army in their traditional meeting next month.

As for the Falcons this season, the team has won two of the last three outings, including a 34-16 decision over Colorado State on Saturday that elevated the team to 4-2 in Mountain West Conference action.

Meanwhile the Black Knights, a team that last won this trophy in 1996 and has captured the award only six times since 1972, they have fallen in back-to-back outings and four of their last five games. The team sat back and watched the rest of the nation compete last weekend after bowing to Rutgers at home on October 24 by a score of 27-10.

AFA, which has won the service academy trophy 16 times over the years, holds a 29-13-1 advantage in the all-time series as a result of last year's 16-7 triumph over the Black Knights.

As is the case with all three academy football teams, Army insists on beating opponents with its running game which, after eight games, ranks 11th in the nation with 219.4 ypg. The team doesn't have a single dominant rusher, rather relying mainly on Trent Steelman and Patrick Mealy who together have generated close to 900 yards on the ground and four of their nine touchdowns. In the case of Steelman, the starting quarterback for the Black Knights, he is averaging just 3.4 yards per attempt and has been credited with a team-high 132 carries. As a signal-caller, Steelman is more of a run facilitator than anything else because he is averaging a feeble 35.2 ypg through the air and has converted just 49.1 percent of his attempts. The so- called passing attack for this team is dead last in all of college football with a mere 59.9 ypg and that has dragged the offense down overall to just 279.3 ypg, which ranks the group 115th in the country this week.

Even though points have been hard to come by for the Black Knights this season, the team averaging a mere 16.9 ppg to rank 112th in the country, there have been times when the defense has stepped up and made enough of a difference to get the team into the win column. At the moment the academy has a fine run defense, one that is allowing just 115.8 ypg to rank 37th nationally. Giving the team even more of a chance to compete is a pass defense that has surrendered only 174.8 ypg and that number is best among the FBS Independent programs and 18th in the country overall. Second on the team in tackles with 51 stops, Donovan Travis is first on the team with his four interceptions, while Josh McNary (45 tackles) ranks among the nation's best with his 10.5 sacks and 16.5 tackles for loss. As a unit, Army is coming up with 6.25 TFLs per outing and almost two-and-a-half sacks per contest this season.

Tim Jefferson completed 7-of-12 passes for 111 yards and a pair of touchdowns for the Falcons as they defeated Colorado State in Fort Collins on Saturday. Jefferson also carried the ball 11 times for an additional 35 yards on the ground as the Falcons posted 271 yards and a couple of scores from their rushing attack as well. Kyle Halderman made the most of his limited action by both running for one touchdown and catching a scoring pass. Jefferson, who has had some injury issues this season, has actually given the Falcons something to look forward to from a passing perspective, the signal-caller having completed 55.4 percent of his attempts for 71.7 ypg and four touchdowns, against just a single interception on 56 attempts. While the Falcons are still ranked second-to-last in the country in passing with a mere 71.4 ypg, the threat of Jefferson or Connor Dietz taking a shot down the field is still there, which means defenses cannot just crowd the line of scrimmage on every snap. Then again, opponents do have to load the box, since the Falcons are fourth in the country with 275.6 ypg on the ground.

As the Air Force offense is well aware, a team does not need to throw the ball all that often in order to land in the win column, which is why the Falcons turned up the heat on the Rams in the backfield. Colorado State managed to complete a mere seven passes and had one picked off as the academy limited the Rams to just 87 yards through the air. Reggie Rembert was again the man to pick off the pass for the Falcons, while Myles Morales kept up the pressure closer to the line of scrimmage with his six tackles and two TFLs. Rembert is now tied with Anthony Wright for the team lead with three interceptions, which means the academy has a total of 11 picks in nine games, while the opposition has managed just one interception because of limited opportunities. With such a discrepancy between those two stats, it should come as little surprise that the Falcons are currently second in the entire nation in turnover margin with a plus-2.0 per outing. Considering the Falcons pass the ball so little, it is surprising that the pass defense is ranked first in the entire nation with a mere 136.4 ypg allowed.

In a game that will be fought in the trenches, just as most of these academy meetings are, expect the Falcons to have the advantage because they actually have faith in their ability to pass the ball when needed.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Air Force 31, Army 13

Saturday, November 7th, 3:30 p.m. (et)