The edict came in, and it was a funny one, to say the least.

Apparently UNLV officials were brimming with anger (and called to say so) because a few questions on a Tuesday episode of a show on the Mtn. -- the Mountain West Conference's official network -- were directed toward a Rebels football player that cornered him about the future of head coach Mike Sanford.

How dare anyone try to get a player's point of view. After all, it had only been the school's new president who announced to the public in rather tacky form that he was "keeping an eye" on the program.

President Neal Smatresk told the Las Vegas Review-Journal Monday he was troubled by the state of the program following Saturday's 63-28 loss at the University of Nevada, in which the Rebels gave up 773 yards and fell to 2-3 and the season -- and 13-39 under Sanford in his fifth season.

"The game was very disappointing," Smatresk said. "We are concerned for our student-athletes, we are concerned for our fans, and we'll be keeping an eye on the situation on a game-to-game basis to see how things go. We're going to be watching."

Duh-du-duh ...

I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, but that sounds like a lack of confidence and an imminent firing. Can anyone spell buyout? Smatresk's not-so-subtle warning shot just put a lot of people into defensive mode.

Too bad, of course, that UNLV's putrid defense isn't necessarily among those folks hunkering down. It was that effort, or lack thereof, that is a big reason this topic is so boiling right now at about the midway point of the season.

It's bad enough in Las Vegas, among that frenzied fan base of about five grand, that even the BYU football players and coaching staff are fielding questions about Sanford's future. Though maybe that's toned down since UNLV's top boss basically came forward and said the guy is fired. Always good to skim speculation from the top.

But the really good comment came from UNLV's interim athletic director, a brave guy named Jerry Koloskie.

The LVRJ quoted him as agreeing with the president's statement: "If that's what his thoughts are, certainly I concur with that."

Classic. We used to call that brown-nosing. Do kids still use that word?

Anyway, being a junior program historian at this point -- seventh season! -- I do have some advice for the Cougars about how to handle all of this.

Basically, ignore it. Say you don't know a thing about the coaching situation at UNLV, even though everyone does.

Most important, don't get cocky. These young lads probably don't remember a bloodbath that was supposed to occur Sept. 24, 2004, in Boise, Idaho.

The Cougars were 1-2 and coming off bad losses to Stanford and USC. People were screaming for coach Gary Crowton's head. It's almost an identical prelude to what the Rebels face now. The athletic department at BYU five years ago also had a fairly new school president and interim athletic director. This combination does not bode well for a head coach who is not winning games.

Then BYU has to go play at Boise State, which was approaching its zenith. The Broncos score the first 16 points on a game-opening safety and a couple of breezy touchdown drives.

There was reactionary talk in the press box and online that Crowton would be fired before the second quarter. The "Q" word was being thrown around in Boise as if it were sour cream and chives.

And accusing a team of quitting on a coach is sport's ultimate insult, and career-breaker. It is one thing to be called out for no talent, quite another to be accused of producing young men with no heart or cajones.

A funny thing happened, though, among a bunch of rowdy nighttime BSU fans that were even more baked than those famous potatoes.

It's hard to say if BYU's players were honoring or attempting to save Crowton at all, or merely salvaging themselves. Or maybe Boise just got bored.

But it became a game. The Cougars didn't allow a point in the second quarter, trailed by just three at halftime and actually led 27-22 after three.

The Cougars wound up losing when a field goal sailed wide in the closing seconds. That may have been the ultimate blessing for BYU, as there was no longer much need to thinly defend Crowton. He was gone at the end of the season.

Will Sanford even reach that point?

Don't presume, BYU players, how this story is going to turn out. The Rebels may have just enough fight Saturday to not get buried.

Even as the UNLV president is already shoveling the hole.

• Jason Franchuk can be reached at jfranchuk@heraldextra.com.