Morning Download: Nevada-UNLV football to battle for Fremont Cannon, MW title game berth

On weekday mornings, Nevada Sports Net will recap three big headlines of the day in its Morning Download. Read below for today’s topics.

1. Nevada-UNLV to battle for Fremont Cannon, MW title game berth

The Nevada and UNLV football teams will battle Saturday at Mackay Stadium with not only the Fremont Cannon on the line but also potential Mountain West championship game implications for the Rebels. UNLV (9-2, 5-2 MW) is one of four teams in the league still in the mix for a spot in the title game along with SDSU (6-1), New Mexico (5-2) and Boise State (5-2). UNLV does not control its own destiny, and actually needs a lot of help. SDSU and Boise State are both in with a win while New Mexico and UNLV need a victory and help. The Rebels must beat Nevada on Saturday and have Boise State lose to Utah State and New Mexico lose to SDSU; UNLV lost to the Lobos and Broncos. In the event of a four-way tie between these schools, it would go to the computer tiebreaker. New Mexico and Boise State both play Friday, so UNLV will know whether it has been eliminated from MW title contention before Saturday’s 6 p.m. kickoff in Reno. UNLV also looks to win the Fremont Cannon for the fourth straight season against rival Nevada (3-8, 2-5 MW), which last claimed the trophy in 2021.

2. Ex-Nevada OC Nick Rolovich named Cal’s interim head coach

Former Nevada offensive coordinator Nick Rolovich was named Cal’s interim head coach after the Bears fired Justin Wilcox on Sunday after his team’s stunning 31-10 loss to rival Stanford. Wilcox finished his seven-year tenure at 48-55 overall. The Bears are 6-5 and have already qualified for a bowl. Cal ends its regular season this week against SMU. Rolovich, who served as Nevada’s offensive coordinator from 2012-15, was serving as an offensive analyst for Cal. Rolovich had head-coaching stints at Hawaii and Washington State. He was fired as the Cougars’ head coach in 2021 after refusing to comply with the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for state of Washington employees. Rolovich is 33-33 in his head-coaching career.

3. Reno’s Amaya Aramini finishes 25th at NCAA Championships

Bishop Manogue High alum Amaya Aramini closed out her redshirt freshman season at Notre Dame by finishing 25th out of 260 runners at Saturday’s NCAA women’s cross country championships, hosted by Missouri. Notre Dame placed seventh as a team. Aramini won her NCAA Regional and was named All-ACC for the Fighting Irish. Also, Yerington High alum Ku Stevens, now at Washington State, finished 168th out of 261 runners at the NCAA men’s cross country championships, also at Missouri. The Cougars finished 17th out of 32 teams.

You can sign up for Nevada Sport Net’s daily newsletter here. Our top headlines are delivered to your inbox every day at 5:15 p.m.