By BERNIE WILSON
AP Sports Writer

SAN DIEGO(AP) -- The No. 6 TCU Horned Frogs will have to do
without their good-luck charm when they play in San Diego for
the fifth straight season.

The Horned Frogs are 4-0 in Qualcomm Stadium with alum and San
Diego Chargers star LaDainian Tomlinson cheering them on from
the sideline. That includes two games against San Diego State
and two appearances in the Poinsettia Bowl.

Tomlinson will miss Saturday's game against the Aztecs because
his San Diego Chargers play at the New York Giants on Sunday.

"He makes everybody want to play a little bit better," running
back Joseph Turner said. "He's a star. You want to play good in
front of stars. Just him cheering us on, that helped us out a
lot."

The Horned Frogs should do OK on their own, considering that
they're 24-point favorites.

Still, even an absent L.T. will be an inspiration.

"Of course. We're playing in his stadium," Turner said. "As much
as he did, we've got to go out and represent."

TCU (8-0, 4-0 Mountain West Conference) will try to remain
unbeaten and stay on track for a chance to become the latest
BCS-buster.

"They're pretty good. Not better than we were, but they're
pretty good," Tomlinson said with a smile.

"It's interesting, because this team has grown. It seems like
they win 10 games almost every year now," Tomlinson said. "I
know when I was there it was something that was big for us. But
now it seems like it's not even a goal anymore. BCS, national
championship, that's what's being talked about around that
campus. I'm happy to see where they are now. I hope they keep
building and keep playing good football."

Tomlinson retains such strong ties to his alma mater that when
he takes a direct snap, the Chargers call it the wildfrog
offense rather than the wildcat.

Tomlinson said he's become a fan of San Diego State and its
first-year coach, Brady Hoke. Hoke seems to have the Aztecs
headed toward respectability after 11 straight non-winning
seasons. They're 4-4 overall and 2-2 in the MWC.

"I hope, obviously, TCU wins in the end, but I hope it's a good
game," Tomlinson said. "I think it will be."

While the fans talk about the Horned Frogs' BCS chances and
undefeated record, coach Gary Patterson is simply trying to keep
his team focused.

"Can we get through the next three to four games without a
letdown? That's the hard part," Patterson said. "And if you do,
can you still find a way to win? Not that they don't want to
win, it's hard to keep that level of intensity for X-amount of
ballgames. and you always probably need it more on the road than
you do at home."

Patterson is trying to keep the focus anywhere but on the BCS
and talk of how TCU just regained the No. 1 ranking nationally
in total defense. He certainly doesn't want his players looking
ahead to Utah.

"I think players take the coaches' lead," Patterson said. "We're
talking about things we need to. If you want to talk about
something, why talk about Utah and BCS, talk about the three
turnovers we had in the first quarter. We have got to find a way
to win."

In 2007, TCU had to rally from a 17-0 deficit.

"The last time we were in San Diego, we had to stop them, and we
had to go on fourth-and-1 to keep the ball when they had no
timeouts left to preserve the win."

If Patterson is looking ahead at anything, it's the kickoff
time.

"The good part is not playing in the middle of the night," he
said "We're going to play at 1 o'clock, play in the sunshine of
San Diego."

Patterson points to SDSU's 3-1 home record and how the Aztecs
hung in against BYU before losing 38-28.

"They have got a chance, with two wins, to get a bowl game and
go to the Poinsettia Bowl, the first time they've been able to
do that in a long, long time," Patterson said. "For us we've got
to keep our noses down and understand we're going to have to
fight and claw and scratch and do everything we can."

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AP Sports Writer Stephen Hawkins in Dallas contributed to this
report.