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Joseph Turner still has fond memories of San Diego.
It’s not the ideal weather or the Southern California sun Turner remembers in his head. TCU’s senior running back, who’s winding down a stellar career as the No. 6-ranked Horned Frogs (8-0, 4-0 Mountain West Conference) play at San Diego State (4-4, 2-2) at 3 p.m. Saturday, remembers the career-game he had the last time the Horned Frogs played the Aztecs at Qualcomm Stadium.A sophomore then, Turner, along with Andy Dalton, put the Frogs on their backs and helped lead a comeback after TCU found itself trailing 17-0 after one quarter. Turner rushed for a career-high 226 yards and four touchdowns. He was in the backfield in place of the team’s leading rusher, Aaron Brown, who was injured the week before against UNLV. Dalton threw for 298 yards and ran for 60 yards and a touchdown."[San Diego State] came out tough and we were down 17-0 early," Turner recalled. "We were just in a groove that night. We believed we could come back and win and we did."The 45-33 win made the Frogs 7-5 and thrust them into the Texas Bowl, a 20-13 win over Houston."The O-line did great," Turner said. "That was the most I’d run the ball since high school, but I wasn’t even tired. I just love that field. I’m not too fast, but I like to think that turf makes me run a little faster. I just like it."Former TCU great and San Diego Charger LaDainian Tomlinson was on the sidelines, adding some inspiration for Turner and the Frogs. "LaDainian Tomlinson makes everyone want to play a little bit better," Turner said. "He’s a star and you want to play well in front of stars. Just him cheering us on helped us out a lot."Even though Tomlinson won’t be there Saturday since the Chargers are on the road, Turner says the Frogs will still try to make him proud."Of course," he said. "We’re playing in his stadium. As much as he’s done there we have to go out and play well."Brown out against TCUSan Diego State wide receiver Vincent Brown will miss Saturday’s game against TCU and likely will miss the rest of the regular season, coach Brady Hoke told The San Diego Union-Tribune.Brown injured his right thumb against Colorado State on Oct. 24 and didn’t play in last week’s 23-20 win over New Mexico. Brown leads the Aztecs with 778 yards on 45 catches, including six touchdowns. "[DeMarco Sampson] is catching touchdown passes all over the place and they have a tight end [Alston Umuolo] who is a very good athlete," TCU coach Gary Patterson said.Aztecs quarterback Ryan Lindley has thrown for 2,142 yards and 20 touchdowns.Pad-free WednesdayThe last several weeks the Frogs have gone without pads for the last half of Wednesday practices in an effort to keep the players fresh for that week’s game. After working out for five consecutive weeks in August and having a Week 1 bye, the team has been grinding for nearly eight weeks since the opener Sept. 12 at Virginia."I think that’s helped us because we went five weeks and started playing and haven’t had any off weeks," Gary Patterson said. "I think it has helped us get our legs and shoulders back a little bit more," Gary Patterson said.Stefan Stevenson, 817-390-7760
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