The San Diego State defense was so beaten up from last week's defeat against Cal Poly that the Aztecs plan to use a reshuffled front seven tomorrow at Notre Dame.

Starting linebacker Russell Allen now is listed as the new first-team defensive end. Earlier this week, two freshmen were working with the first-team defensive line: Eron Moses at tackle and J.J. Autele at end. At strong-side linebacker, Allen would be replaced by senior backup Zach Clarke, who has eight career tackles. Ten defensive linemen were injured at some point this week.

“In today's college football, there is no depth for anybody, and if you get a run of injuries at a position, you can go from being a decent team to a lousy team in a hurry, or a great team to being a fair team,” defensive coordinator Bob Elliott said. “ . . . In our case, because we're down 13 scholarships over the last three years (because of NCAA Academic Performance Rate penalties), we're thinner than most.”

Defensive end Tony DeMartinis, end Eric Ikonne, tackle Jerome Long, tackle Ernie Lawson and end Ryan Williams suffered new injuries or aggravated old ones against Cal Poly. Elliott and head coach Chuck Long blamed that on Cal Poly's cut-blocking (against the lower legs).

“We spent a week and a half working on that, but you can't simulate it, because if you do, they're going to be hurt in practice,” Elliott said. “ . . . If the NCAA is interested in player safety, that would be a good rule (to ban it). But the NCAA is not interested in players' safety. They're interested in points.”

Tackles Neil Spencer (shoulder), Avery Williams (knee) and DeMartinis (knee) are out for the season. End Michael Snead (hip) is out for about a month. Tackle Siaosi Fifita (knee), Ikonne (ankle) and Ryan Williams (concussion) won't play tomorrow. Jerome Long (ankle) and Lawson (ankle) will be game-time decisions. Tackle Darias Jones had a strained back this week but practiced yesterday.

Mental coaching

The Aztecs ended football practice yesterday with a vision of sorts: walking through the gates of Notre Dame Stadium, calm and ready for success.

That's what they were told to visualize by mental performance coach Dave Austin, who had the players lie on their backs and take deep breaths while thinking big.

Austin said the goal is to “see yourself performing at the highest level. The more you see yourself in that light, the more you step into it.”

Austin, an SDSU grad, has worked with several pro athletes, including Baltimore Orioles outfielder Luke Scott. He's been doing occasional mental exercises with the team after meeting coach Chuck Long in the summer.

“He's really big into visualization, which I am,” Long said.