Citizen Staff Writer
THE BOUNCE
Arizona is not playing for the Kit Carson rifle when playing New Mexico on Saturday.
When they were rivals in the Border and Western Athletic conferences, a win was rewarded with the rights to the rifle used by the legendary scout in the territories of Arizona and New Mexico in the 1800s.
Scores of the games were etched into the stock.
The story goes that Arizona athletic director Pop McKale and New Mexico director Roy Johnson obtained the rifle in a trade with an man rumored to be Geronimo. McKale donated it to the rivalry in 1938.
The custom was dropped many years ago. The teams haven’t played each other since Arizona knocked off the Lobos 20-14 in the 1997 Insight.com Bowl.
MOREDICH