New Mexico has notified a federal court that the state is terminating settlement efforts in a first-of-its-kind lawsuit in which the Department of Defense challenged the state’s authority to require an Air Force base to clean up PFAS wastes.

Zachary Ogaz, general counsel for the New Mexico Environment Department, notified the chief circuit mediator for the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit on Aug. 27 of the state’s “intent to terminate mediation discussions” that the parties have held for more than a year in US v. New Mexico Env’t Dep’t. The next step in the litigation is …

The Arizona football team is a 31.5-point favorite ahead of its season opener versus New Mexico on Saturday. New Mexico at Arizona has a 7:30 PM Mountain Standard Time start on ESPN. New Mexico has minimal injuries that should not have a huge impact on Saturday. Arizona is healthy Arizona has dominated the series with New Mexico.

New Mexico at Arizona will kick off at 7:30 PM Mountain Standard Time on ESPN with Brian Custer on Play-by-Play, Rod Gilmore as the analyst and Lauren Sisler as the sideline reporter. Saturday is the first of at least four Arizona games this season scheduled to be televised nationally. The remainder of the TV schedule is to be announced.

Arizona is a 31.5-point favorite over New Mexico as of Thursday morning. The Wildcats are minus 7000 on the moneyline and New Mexico is plus 2000 per Fan Duel. The Over/under is at 58.5. That is roughly predicting a 41-17 Arizona win. Arizona should be able to name their score versus a porous New Mexico defense.

Running back Jaylen Morgan and wide receiver Evan Wysong are listed as questionable for New Mexico on Saturday per Newsday. There are no injuries listed for Arizona. Wysong led New Mexico with six receptions for 95 yards in the Lobos 35-31 loss to Montana State last week.

Seasonal weather is forecast for Tucson on Saturday night. The gametime forecast is 75 degrees with a six percent chance of rain, winds will be out of the Southeast at five to 10 miles per hour. Partly cloudy skies are forecast with humidity at 43 percent and a UV index of zero out of 11.

Arizona leads the all-time series with New Mexico 44-20-3. The Wildcats beat the Lobos 45-37 in the last meeting in 2015 in the New Mexico Bowl on the Lobos homefield. New Mexico won the previous two meetings in 2007 and 2008 in one-score games. Arizona is 22-11-1 versus New Mexico in games played in Tucson.

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Arizona took three short years to go from one of the worst programs in the FBS to a 10-game winner on the rise.

That was under Jedd Fisch. Now it’s Brent Brennan’s turn and he appears to have a stacked deck.

Kicking off a season with more expectations than any in recent years, No. 21 Arizona opens the Brennan era Saturday night at home against New Mexico.

“My message to the team is: it’s all about us,” Brennan said. “It’s about our process and how we prepare. It’s very, very simple, it’s boring and it’s not sexy. I think that sometimes gets lost.”

After seven seasons at San Jose State, Brennan takes over an Arizona program that climbed from the depths of a school-record 20-game losing streak to winning seven straight games to close out last season, the current longest run in the FBS.

Fisch took some players with him when he moved to Washington, but two key ones remained: quarterback Noah Fifita and receiver Tetairoa McMillan.

With two of the program’s best players opting to stick around, several others joined them, giving Brennan a stacked roster for his first season.

Fifita and McMillan headline what could be one of the nation’s most explosive offenses and the defense, long an issue in Tucson, took massive strides last season. Arizona has numerous playmakers back on defense, including linebacker Jacob Manu — the Pac-12’s leading tackler a year ago — cornerback Tacario Davis and safeties Dalton Johnson and Gunner Maldonado.

The Wildcats were ranked in The Associated Press preseason poll for the first time since 2015 and now get a first chance to show that it was warranted in their first Big 12 season.

“I had that thought walking out here just now, how much has changed in seven months,” Brennan said. “It’s surreal but also really, really special, but I’m excited, just like our players are.”

Bronco’s Lobos

Arizona won’t be the only team with a new head coach at Arizona Stadium.

Veteran coach Bronco Mendenhall was hired during the offseason to replace Danny Gonzales, who was fired after four mediocre seasons. Mendenhall had a successful stint at BYU before spending the past six seasons at Virginia, where he led the Cavaliers to three straight bowl games.

The Lobos got the Mendenhall era off to a shaky start last week, blowing a 17-point lead in a 35-31 home loss to Montana State.

“I saw capability, certainly, two defensive touchdowns, some fourth-down stops and some other positive things, but not consistent enough, not clean enough and not sound enough really, from beginning to end, to put the game away,” Mendenhall said.

Talented connection

Fifita and McMillan give Arizona one of the nation’s most talented duos.

Fifita began last season as the backup, but played so well in place of injured Jayden de Laura that he kept the job when de Laura returned. Fifita threw for 2,869 yards and 25 touchdowns with six interceptions, setting a school record with a 72.4% completion rate.

McMillan was the top-rated recruit in program history nearly three years ago and has lived up to the hype. The native of Hawaii caught 90 passes for 1,402 yards and 10 touchdowns last season, helping him become the first Arizona player to earn preseason AP All-America honors.

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