LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) _ The New Mexico State Aggies received another breath of life in the race for the Big West Conference title after running circles around league leader Idaho on Saturday night.

The Aggies' ground attack was led by sophomore Kenton Keith, who rushed for 174 of New Mexico State's 420 yards. Keith also scored the first rushing touchdown of his career against the Vandals.

``I had to make a statement tonight,'' Keith said. ``I felt like I could do whatever I wanted to do. This game I went all out.''

Keith started the Aggies offensive drive in the third quarter with a 59-yard touchdown run. The Aggies had struggled in the first half, playing catch-up to Idaho's two early touchdowns.

After Keith's run, New Mexico State put another 14 unanswered points on the board with a 37-yard run by Keeon Johnson and a 6-yard scoring pass from K.C. Enzminger to Cory Lucas.

NMSU (4-4,1-2) sealed the game with a 7-yard touchdown run by Johnson with 13:29 left on the clock.

``We started off slow,'' NMSU coach Tony Samuel said. ``Idaho's defense was really attacking and sometimes (with) that kind of attack style you need time to wear them down a little bit. Once they wore down ... that was very, very important.''

Idaho (5-3, 3-1) got on the board first with an 18-yard pass from Greg Robertson to Chris Lacy. The Vandals added to their lead late in the first quarter when Cleavon Bradshaw returned a fumble 28 yards for a touchdown.

The Aggies came back with a 2-yard K.C. Enzminger sweep. Nick Cecava's PAT made it 14-7 at the end of the first quarter.

The Aggies managed to tie the game 14-14 at the end of the second quarter after they capped off a 15 play, 92-yard drive with a dive across the goalline by Johnson.

Johnson rushed for 86 yards and three touchdowns.

Robertson had 189 yards passing with 2 interceptions for Idaho. He connected with Mike Roberg four times and Chris Lacy three times for 41 yards each.

The Vandals gained 316 total yards in their first conference loss.

A victory Saturday would have given the Vandals the inside track to a conference title, but Idaho struggled both offensively and defensively.

``If you can't run the ball, can't throw the ball, and you can't stop them on defense, you're going to have a long night,'' Idaho coach Chris Tormey lamented after the game.