Aggies’ annual breast cancer awareness game has special meaning for Nate and Alexa Dreiling

Utah State’s annual breast cancer awareness game has personal meaning to many, year-after-year.
This season, the game comes against New Mexico — this Saturday at 2 p.m. MT — and count the Aggies’ interim head coach Nate Dreiling among those who will have more than football on their minds.
Dreiling’s wife, Alexa Dreiling, is a breast cancer survivor herself, and her battle with the disease only just came to a close.
In a video released on social media by Utah State football, the pair talked about their experience with the life-changing disease.
Alexa Dreiling was diagnosed with breast cancer in August 2023, after New Mexico State — where Nate Dreiling was defensive coordinator — had started fall camp ahead of the 2023 college football season.
She was diagnosed with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer, which Alexa described as “a really aggressive form of breast cancer, but it responds well to chemo.”
Initially, Alexa and Nate hadn’t supposed that she had cancer.
“I had just had a baby four months before that and I had a lump in my breast, but I thought it was breast feeding related,” Alexa said. “We went to the doctor still optimistic and they told us probably the worst news we could’ve received — that I had breast cancer.”
The immediate reaction and feeling for both after the diagnosis was fear.
“The hardest part being there next to her was the fear of unknown,” Nate said. “You don’t know how severe the cancer is. Is she going to make it another week? What is it (treatment) going to look like? Let alone (her) being the mother of three kids and watching her go through something was the hardest part for me.”
What helped alleviate some of that distress was support. From family and friends.
“Nate was heavy into fall camp,” Alexa said. “He was busy trying to coach the defense (at New Mexico State) and I really needed to rely on a lot of support. Nate was there for me every step of the way, as well all of our families flew in and our coaches families (at NMSU). And our friends.”
For Nate, it was nothing short of amazing to see the people who reached out in support.
“The big thing that helped the most was the outreach we’ve gotten,” he said. “Obviously you know your family is going to be there, but you’ve had friends you haven’t talked to for 10 years (reach out). Old classmates to your kindergarten teacher, writing you letters every week.”
Alexa’s battle with cancer included five months of chemotherapy, a lumpectomy to remove the cancerous mass and surrounding lymph nodes, plus further radiation treatments and drug infusions.
It all took about a year — from diagnosis to cancer-free — and during that time, Alexa remained a hands on mother of three children under the age of 5.
“Watching any mom is unbelievable with how hard they work,” Dreiling said. “But watching her (Alexa), with no hair, cause its already been shaved off, and no energy to get out of bed. And then she wakes up every morning with a smile on her face and tells the kids that everything is okay and it still being the best mom in the world. That was so inspiring. A lot of people get depressed when they get around cancer patients and victims and I was truly inspired watching it.”
That ultimately is why Alexa and Nate elected to tell their story, ahead of the Aggies’ clash with the Lobos: to inspire people to give support to those who are battling breast cancer. As much or as little as you can.
“I think that is the key,” Nate said. “Whether you’ve known them your whole life or met them last week, whatever support you can give for families during that time goes way further than you’d expect.”