 Russell quarterbacked the Aztecs the rest of the season and led them to the Las Vegas Bowl, the school's first bowl appearance in seven seasons.Notably, he totaled five rushing touchdowns in the season, the most by an SDSU quarterback since 1981.Russell began the 1999 year as the team's starting QB but was asked to switch to safety, a natural fit for his skill set, allowing JUCO transfer Jack Hawley to assume QB responsibilities.