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NEW ORLEANS - Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers proved they can still summon the type of competent, passionate and feisty football associated with teams pushing for post-season berths.After six straight mistake-filled losses, Carolina could not afford to wait any longer than its trip to the Big Easy to make piling up yards and points look — well — easy again.Newton passed for three touchdowns, incited a scuffle after soaring over the pile for another score and let running back Jonathan Stewart do the rest in a 41-10 rout of the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.When you execute like that, its fun to watch. And when you dont, its hard to watch, said Newton, who was an efficient 21-of-33 for 226 yards with no interceptions and no sacks.The victory pulled Carolina (4-8-1) closer to NFC South Division leader Atlanta (5-7), which plays Monday night at Green Bay.Newton also scrambled for 83 yards and Stewart rushed for 155 yards on 20 carries, highlighted by his 69-yard run that made it 31-3 early in the third quarter.When the offensive line is playing as well as they did today, and our running backs are running like they were, and our guys are catching the ball like they were, its hard to lose, Newton said.For Saints coach Sean Payton, it was hard to watch as New Orleans (5-8) lost its fourth straight home game to fall a half-game behind the Falcons.Obviously, thats embarrassing — how we played, how we coached. You pick an area, you pick a phase and it was awful, Payton said. It couldnt have started any worse and couldnt have finished any worse.The Panthers scored an NFL-low 30 first-quarter points during their first 12 games combined. Against New Orleans, Carolina scored on its opening series for only the second time on Kelvin Benjamins 9-yard touchdown catch. The Panthers wound up scoring 17 points before 9 minutes had elapsed, thanks in no small part to Saints turnovers.Mark Ingrams fumble on the New Orleans 25 led to a field goal. Bene Benwikeres interception of Drew Brees led to Newtons rushing TD, which in turn led to a brief melee behind the end zone.Newton was jawing with defensive end Cam Jordan, then linebacker Curtis Lofton shoved Newton just as the quarterback broke into his Superman celebration. The scrum that ensued burst through a closed gate behind the goal post and spilled into a tunnel.Tight end Brandon Williams was ejected for punching Jordan.Newton said the scuffle resulted from a lot of testosterone on that field at one time.Lofton, who was penalized but not ejected, said he didnt regret his shove and was not going to stand for what he viewed as Newton was taunting Jordan.Some more things to know about Carolinas demolition of the Saints:NEWTONS TURNAROUND: During Carolinas six-game skid, Newton threw nine interceptions and just six touchdown passes, and was sacked 25 times. Against the Saints, he had his fourth career game with at least 200 yards passing, multiple touchdown passes, 80-plus yards rushing and a touchdown run. Only two other players have done that multiple times. Michael Vick and Russell Wilson each have done it twice.STAGNANT SAINTS: Saints quarterback Drew Brees 235 yards passing and completion rate of 59.2 per cent were both season lows. The Saints were also held under 100 yards rushing for only the third time this season.BIG GAINS: Carolina gained 271 yards rushing and its 497 total yards were a season high, as were its 41 points. Newtons other touchdown passes went for 16 yards to tight end Greg Olsen and 26 yards to running back Fozzy Whittaker.We have got to keep this formula going. This is who we are and this is what we are good at, Olsen said. We had good rhythm and a good mix of pass and run.DISHEARTENED Defence: The Saints entered the game second-to-last in the NFL in yards allowed, only to see their average yards allowed ruse from 390.5 to 398.7 — still slightly better than Atlantas average of 403.2.PLAYOFF PICTURE: Despite losing four of five games, the Saints will remain tied for first place in the NFC South if Atlanta losses to the Packers on Monday night. Carolina, meanwhile, would sit a half game behind both the Saints and Falcons. 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Koivu underwent surgery on Monday and is expected to miss at least four weeks.Laramie, WY (SportsNetwork.com) - The 25th-ranked Wyoming Cowboys saddle up for one of their toughest games to date, as they host the San Diego State Cowboys in Mountain West Conference action at Arena-Auditorium on Wednesday night. Wyoming is all alone atop the MWC standings, sporting an unblemished 4-0 mark, and the team has won seven straight games since bowing to California more than a month ago, 45-42, on the road. The latest triumph for the Pokes came this past Saturday as they took down the Boise State Broncos at home, 65-54. Winners of 13 straight at home, the Cowboys are off to their best start in MWC play since 2002-03, and would be setting a new team standard with a victory over the Aztecs. Up until recently, the Aztecs were one of the teams to beat in the MWC, ranking as high as 13th in the country, but an unexpected 59-57 loss to Fresno State on Jan. 3 put an end to that. The team did manage to bounce back last week with a 56-42 decision over New Mexico, the fifth win in six outings for SDSU, but still the spotlight is shining elsewhere in the conference right now. Wyoming leads the all-time series by a 39-35 margin and has been particularly dominant at home since the relationship began back in 1979, winning 26 of the 34 games played in Laramie. Last season, the Cowboys captured a 68-62 victory in the lone meeting. Despite having trouble winning in Laramie, the good news for the Aztecs is that six of their eight victories on the road in the series have come under current head coach Steve Fisher. The Aztecs won their 24th straight home game last week as Winston Shepard tallied 20 points and pulled down nine rebounds, offsetting five turnovers, as they took down New Mexico at Viejas Arena. Angelo Chol was the only other double-diigit scorer for SDSU with 10 points off the bench, as the team limited the Lobos to only 29.dddddddddddd percent shooting from the floor. The Aztecs survived despite hitting a mere 3-of-18 behind the 3-point line. Producing from beyond the arc has not been one of the highlights for the Aztecs this season, with the team converting only 28.0 percent on the perimeter. However, that level of accuracy still beats the competition which checks in at a mere 27.3 percent. In addition, San Diego State has been able to clamp down on almost every opponent, limiting them to 36.6 percent from the floor overall, resulting in 53.5 ppg. Offensively, the only double-digit scorer on the defensive-minded unit is Shepard with his 11.4 ppg. During their win over Boise State, the Cowboys shot better than 52 percent from the field in both the first and second halves, compared to the visitors who knocked down only 39.6 percent overall during the double-digit decision. Larry Nance Jr. was again dominant in the paint with 18 points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots, adding four assists as well, while Josh Adams tacked on 16 points. Riley Grabau converted all 10 of his free-throw tries in order to arrive at 15 points for a team that outscored BSU at the charity stripe, 14-6. With three double-doubles on the campaign, it should not come as a surprise that Nance Jr. leads the Cowboys in both scoring (15.8 ppg) and rebounding (6.7 rpg), not to mention pacing them with 21 blocked shots and being among the team leaders with 40 assists. Adams, the top man for assists with 66, adds another 11.1 ppg to the offensive attack, but like the Aztecs this is a team that feeds off its defense, limiting opponents to only 52.2 ppg on 39.8 percent shooting from the floor. ' ' '