On his first day as San Diego State's football coach, Chuck Long promised to deliver a winning team at a school that has had precious few in recent years.

"We're going to win championships now," said Long, the former Iowa quarterback who has been Oklahoma's offensive coordinator the past four seasons. "It's a place that's ready to do it. I can feel it. I think it's going to be exciting times.

"We hope everybody's going to be along for the ride, because it's going to be a lot of fun," Long said yesterday at his introductory news conference.

Long, 42, signed a five-year contract with an annual salary of $700,000, with bonuses that can add an additional $300,000 per year. Long's deal calls for a $100,000 bonus if he leads the Aztecs to a BCS bowl game.

Long's salary is a sign of the school's increased commitment to winning. Long's predecessor, Tom Craft, made $400,000 annually. Craft was fired Dec. 5 after going 19-29 in four years, including 5-7 in 2005 after a season-ending 49-38 loss to Hawai'i.

SDSU last won a conference championship in 1986, the year after Long finished second to Bo Jackson in the closest Heisman Trophy voting ever, and led Iowa to the Big Ten championship and the Rose Bowl.

"It's been a long time," said Long, who landed his first head coaching job over nine other candidates. The other finalist was LSU offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher.

NCAA III CHAMPIONSHIP

SALEM, Va. — Mount Union is back on top in Division III football — and more than happy to say so.

"We had a lot of doubters," defensive end Greg Brauer said after the Purple Raiders beat Wisconsin-Whitewater, 35-28, yesterday in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl for their eighth Division III title in 13 years, but first since 2002.

"I was here for both losses and it hurt more than anything," Brauer said. "We just got after it in the weight room, studied film and studied hard. People were saying Mount Union's not good anymore ... there's no more dynasty. Well, we're back."

Nate Kmic ran for three touchdowns, including a 95-yarder, Mike Jorris threw for two scores and the Mount Union (14-1) turned Wisconsin-Whitewater (14-1) away with nothing several times after being backed up near it own goal line. The Purple Raiders had an interception at their own 1, batted down a sure TD pass and had a goal-line stand.

"That was really a pivotal point there," Mount Union coach Larry Kehres said of the stand, which came when his team stopped the Warhawks twice from the 1, preserving a 14-7 lead that quickly became much larger once Mount Union got the ball.

Two plays later, Kmic took a handoff through the left side of the line, broke into the open field and outran several defenders down the left sideline to make it 21-7.

The 95-yard run matched the Stagg Bowl record set by Mount Union's Chuck Moore in 2001, and helped Kmic finish with 1,040 rushing yards in five playoff games.

"These past couple of weeks have been just amazing," Kmic said after finishing with 185 yards on 28 carries, and additional touchdowns of 2 and 15 yards. NAIA CHAMPIONSHIP

SAVANNAH, Tenn. — Tyler Emmert ended a memorable career with another memorable weekend, leading Carroll College (Mont.) to its fourth straight NAIA football championship, 27-10 over St. Francis (Ind.) yesterday.

Emmert completed 20 of 36 passes for 278 yards and three touchdowns as the top-ranked Fighting Saints (14-0) rolled to a 17-3 halftime lead and held off the second-ranked Cougars (13-1) for the second straight year in the NAIA title game.

Emmert was selected the offensive most valuable player in the championship game for the third straight year.

"It's tough to walk off the field, but it's not about records and not about numbers. It's about this group of guys and what we've been able to accomplish," said Emmert, who earlier was named NAIA Player of the Year.