SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento State will look to continue its ability to reload at the running back position. The Hornets have seen their top rusher depart the last two seasons but have hardly missed a beat. This season, the team returns a trio of running backs who combined for over 150 carries and nearly 900 yards return to their Hornet backfield in 2024.

• Junior Elijah Tau-Tolliver is the leading returning rusher on the team having compiled 387 yards a year ago. A good chunk of that total came in a nationally-televised game against Montana State on ESPN2 where he rushed for 100 yards and scored a 53-yard touchdown. Tau-Tolliver has appeared in every Sacramento State game over the last two seasons where he has become an all-purpose standout with 1,719 combined yards rushing, receiving and on kick returns.
• Ezra Moleni appeared in nine games during his first season with the team. Moleni rushed for 278 yards on six carries and caught five passes for 32 yards. His biggest output came in the team's win at Northern Colorado where he had 87 rushing yards and caught an 8-yard touchdown pass. In the three games where Moleni filled in for the injured Marcus Fulcher, he averaged 58.3 yards per game.
• Zeke Burnett was the most explosive of the backs last season, averaging 8.0 yards per carry on his 27 attempts. Burnett did not receive a carry until week five where he picked up 40 yards on six attempts and scored his first career touchdown. His breakout game came against Idaho State, rushing for 143 yards on just nine attempts.
• Junior Michael Johnson and redshirt freshman Curron Borders also return to the team. Johnson was efficient in limited action last year, picking up 32 yards on four carries. He scored his first career touchdown on an 8-yard rush against Idaho State. Borders did not appear in a game in 2023 but was a three-star recruit out of Antelope HS where he ran for 3,574 yards and 50 touchdowns in three varsity seasons.
• The two newcomers in the backfield are freshmen Ajon Bryant and Ardwon Morris. Bryant was a three-star product of Mater Dei HS. He averaged nearly seven yards per carry as a senior and helped the Monarchs to a 37-2 overall record in his final three seasons. Morris comes to the Hornets from Orange HS. As a senior, he rushed for 2,486 yards which ranked second in the Southern Section and eighth in the state. He averaged 226.0 yards per game and rushed for at least 113 yards in all 11 contests.
• Though not a running back, Sacramento State did turn to tight end Coleman Kuntz near the goal line last season. Kuntz had six carries during the year for a total of 10 yards and scored four touchdowns. 

NEWS & NOTES

• Following an off day for the players on Sunday, the team returns to practice on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings.
• The Hornets will take their team photo and go through pregame activities on Thursday and then have Friday off before beginning game preparation for San Jose State.
• Former Hornets Marte Mapu (New England Patriots) and DeAndre Carter (Chicago Bears) did not play in their team's preseason games over the weekend.
• McLeod Bethel-Thompson completed 15-of-23 passes for 234 yards and a pair of touchdowns to lead Edmonton to a 47-22 win over Hamilton in the CFL. Bethel-Thompson is fifth in the league in passing yards this year and has thrown for over 15,000 yards in his CFL career.
• Darnell Sankey was credited with six tackles for Montreal and is now fifth in the CFL with 55 stops this year. The Alouettes own the CFL's best record at 9-1.