San Diego State hosts Colorado State at Viejas Arena on Tuesday night, two weeks after playing in Fort Collins. The scouting report is still fresh in the players’ minds, allowing coaches to spend time tweaking subtleties.

How will the Aztecs adjust to CSU’s plan to crowd Jaedon LeDee in the paint, dropping a second, third and sometimes fourth defender whenever he got the ball anywhere near the basket?

Or what will they do at the other end to combat 6-foot-7, 225-pound Rams forward Joel Scott, who had 15 points and continually backed down defenders in the post? Will the Aztecs send a double team this time at the risk of leaving shooters open on the perimeter?

Or what about slowing the Rams’ transition offense, which hit the Aztecs for 18 points?

That’s what happens between the lines. What happens between the ears might be more critical, though.

As the wildest Mountain West race in history lurches into its final month, with, incredibly, seven teams at either three or four conference losses, the separation may come from who handles the madness the best.

Who blinks? Who doesn’t? Who coalesces? Who collapses?

“The thing you have to know in this conference is you have to have thick skin,” SDSU coach Brian Dutcher said recently, “because you’re going to lose a game in this conference and you might lose two in a row. It’s whoever can stay right mentally and fix themselves and find a way to get back on a win streak.

“It’s not always pretty, but you have to find a way to win those kind of games to compete in this conference.”

San Diego State forward Elijah Saunders (25) reaches out for a rebound as Colorado State guard Josiah Strong (3) defends.

(David Zalubowski / Associated Press)

The Aztecs (18-6, 7-4) didn’t at Nevada on Friday, losing 70-66 despite leading inside 10 seconds to go in regulation and by four points in overtime. It was wrenching, frustrating, irritating, maddening, exasperating, aggravating, disappointing, discouraging. A game, and an opportunity, lost.

Instead, they fell out of the Associated Press rankings for the fourth time this season (they’re 4-4 as a ranked team), dropping from No. 24 to fourth among others receiving votes, or 29^th overall. And they’re in a four-way for second place behind 8-3 Utah State. Nevada and UNLV, which have played one fewer game, are both 6-4.

Five of those seven teams get byes in the first round of the Mountain West Tournament in Las Vegas (the Aztecs currently would get the 5 seed). Two won’t, meaning they would have to win four games in four days to claim the conference’s automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.

Or consider this: If Utah State isn’t gifted a five-point play by a controversial officiating decision in the final seconds at UNLV last month, the Rebels are the lone team atop the standings with three losses. Instead, they’re currently the No. 7 seed.

“That’s the fine line between sitting at the top and sitting in the middle,” Dutcher said. “If we get a rebound (late) at Nevada, we have a chance to win the game. Then we’re in first place and we’re feeling like everything is roses.

“You just have to have an NBA mentality. There’s a lot of basketball to be played. If you sit here and dwell over this one, it’ll cost you the next one. We played well, but we didn’t win. You have to be able to deal with the ups and downs of it, not get too high or too low, and just keep working on your daily trade.”

In this area, the Aztecs are particularly good. Legendarily good.

In the last 33 games at Viejas Arena that followed a loss, they’re 33-0.

“That is one of our strong suits, I think,” sophomore guard Miles Byrd said. “Last year, we had a bunch of fifth-year guys who had been with each other for three years-plus. When you have a bunch of guys who are close through thick and thin, if you get toward the end of the year and there’s maybe a loss you don’t want, you can stay together instead of falling apart like some other teams might.”

To that end, the Aztecs had what one assistant coach called their best practice of the season Monday — spirited, animated, energetic, productive, encouraging.

“We had a really tough road schedule last week,” Byrd said of a pair of games in altitude three days apart. “We got back home this weekend and locked our minds back in and concentrated on who we have next.”

San Diego State guard Darrion Trammell (12) heads off the court as Colorado State guard Josiah Strong, left, and forwards Patrick Cartier (12) and Joel Scott (1) celebrate a win.

(David Zalubowski / Associated Press)

That’s Colorado State. Motivation is not an issue.

The Aztecs have wanted a piece of the Rams since their 79-71 loss at Moby Arena on Jan. 30. They fell behind 17-3, endured maybe the angriest players had ever seen Dutcher — punctuated by a whiteboard slammed onto the court during a timeout — battled back to take a 60-59 lead with 7½ minutes left, had back-to-back turnovers and never recovered.

Taste: bitter.

They had another poor start Friday in Reno, managing three points for the eight-plus minutes and not scoring their first 2-point basket until 10 minutes into the game.

Figure that was a focus of practice this week.

“They started the game off really well, and we didn’t come ready to play right from tip,” Byrd said of the CSU game. “We ended up making it a really close game late. If they don’t jump out like that, I think there’s a different outcome.”