A BRIEF PREVIEW

• It all comes down to this. Winners of three straight and five of their last six games, the Sacramento State football team will close its regular season with the 71st Causeway Classic on Saturday at UC Davis. The game will begin at 1 p.m. at UC Davis Health Stadium.
• The Hornets improved to 7-4 overall and 5-2 in the Big Sky Conference with a last-minute 23-20 win over Idaho on Saturday. They will face a UC Davis team which dropped to 7-3 overall and even with Sacramento State in the Big Sky standings. The winner of Saturday's game will likely earn a berth into the FCS Playoffs while the loser will have to await its fate on selection Sunday.
• This week's game will be streamed on ESPN+ and broadcast locally on KQCA My58 with Scott Marsh (play-by-play) and Scott Gordon (analyst)
• Hornet fans can tune in to ESPN 1320 AM to hear the radio call of Jason Ross (play-by-play), Steve McElroy (analyst) and Danny Sullivan (sideline). Live audio streaming is also available via www.hornetsports.com and the Audacy app.

OPPONENT PREVIEW: UC DAVIS

• UC Davis is 7-3 overall and currently tied with the Hornets at 5-2 in Big Sky Conference games. The Aggies two losses have come at home to Idaho State (38-36) and last week at Montana State (38-17). UC Davis also has one fewer games than most FCS schools as it's week zero game against Mercer in Birmingham, Ala., was ruled a no contest following a lengthy weather delay.
• The Aggies are ranked 15th in the FCS media poll and 14th in the coaches poll.
• Redshirt freshman Caden Pinnick leads the Aggie offense. Pinnick has thrown for 2,221 yards and 22 touchdowns with eight interceptions in his nine games. He also ranks third on the team with 307 rushing yards and three touchdowns. Samuel Gbatu, Jr., has been his top target with 53 receptions for 822 yards and nine touchdowns.  In all, the Aggies have had 10 players catch a touchdown pass this season.
• Defensively, Jayden Stanley and Khalani Riddick lead the team in tackles with 54 and 52, respectively. Jacob Psyk has lived in the opposing backfield as he has 14.0 tackles-for-loss, including eight sacks.
• Tim Plough is in his second year as the head coach at UC Davis. A former Aggie quarterback, Plough is in his third stint at his alma mater. He has also coached at Northern Arizona, Boise State and Cal. He is 18-6 in his time as a head coach.

CAUSEWAY CLASSIC FACTS

• Despite this being the 71st Causeway Classic, Saturday's game will be the 72nd meeting between the two schools. In 1988, the teams met twice, with Sacramento State winning in both the regular season (31-28) and the first round of the Div. II playoffs (35-13). The first of those victories ended an 18-game losing streak.
• The game was not referred to as the Causeway Classic until 1983. Former Sacramento State SID Mike Duncan is credited with creating the moniker.
• The Causeway Classic has drawn 688,458 fans over the past 70 years. The three largest Sacramento State football crowds have come against UC Davis. In 2022, a school-record 23,073 packed Hornet Stadium. In 1999, 20,993 attended the game while the 2019 contest drew 19,882.
• While being played on both campuses, the Causeway Classic has also been held at the Grant Bowl, Hughes Stadium and at Mackey Stadium in Reno, Nev., in 2018. That game was forced to move from Davis to Reno just days prior the scheduled date due to poor air quality caused by the Camp Fire.

THE CASE FOR SAC STATE

• The field for the 24-team NCAA FCS Playoffs will be announced on Sunday, Nov. 23, on ESPNU at 9 a.m PT. With the addition of the Ivy League for the first time, there will be 11 automatic qualifiers and 13 at-large selections.
• A victory by Sacramento State would give the team eight NCAA Div. I wins which has been the benchmark for earning an at-large selection. The team would also be guaranteed to finish in sole possession of third place in the Big Sky with a 6-2 conference record.
• Since 2018, the Big Sky has placed at least four teams in the FCS Playoffs each year and has had five in three of the past four seasons. The league has had at least three teams in the playoffs every season since 2012 except 2017 (two).
• The Hornets are currently 19th in the Massey Ratings which is the computer poll used by the committee. The team is also 15th in the Massey Power index and offensive rating and 26th in strength of schedule. That number will improve after this week as UC Davis is ninth overall in the Massey.
• Sacramento State will also be one of the hottest team's in the FCS at the end of the season. With a win this weekend, the team will have won its last four games, six of its last seven and eight of its final 10 games of the year.
• The Hornets have an offensive efficiency rating of +7.52 points per game against FCS opponents. The rating is calculated by figuring the difference in points scored by Sacramento State compared to the average in that team's other games. The team has a defensive rating of +2.6 points per game.

HEART-ATTACK HORNETS

• For the third time this season, Sacramento State had a game decided in the final seconds. The team is now 2-1 in those games.
• Most recently, Cardell Williams scored with nine seconds remaining to turn a 20-16 deficit into a 23-20 victory. The touchdown was the sixth go-ahead game-winning TD in the final minute of regulation in the school's Div. I history. The only one that came later than Saturday night's was the Hail Mary from Jason Smith to Tony Washington with no time remaining at Northern Colorado in 2007 to give the team a 20-17 win.
• Prior to Saturday, the last game-winning touchdown with less than a minute to play came at Northern Arizona in 2019 when Jake Dunniway connected with Pierre Williams with 23 seconds remaining.
• Sacramento State's first thriller this season came in week two at Nevada on Sept. 6. The Hornets had two touchdowns nullified by penalties in the final 30 seconds and had a game-tying 42-yard field goal missed with 12 seconds left, resulting in a 20-17 defeat.
• The team was victorious on Oct. 18 against Northern Colorado. In that game, it was the defense that provided the late-game heroics, stopping UNC on 4th-and-1 from the Hornet 3-yard line with 30 seconds remaining.

OFF TO A GOOD START

• Brennan Marion became just the fourth coach in school history to win seven games during his first season as head coach of the Hornets.
• Marion, who is the 13th head coach in program history, is now tied with Jody Sears who had seven wins in 2014. Troy Taylor recorded nine wins in his debut season in 2019 and Andy Thompson had eight wins in 2023. All of Taylor's wins game in the regular season while Thompson had seven in the regular season one in the first round of the FCS Playoffs.
• This year marks the 18th time that Sacramento State has won at least seven games in a season dating back to the start of the program in 1954.
• Five of those seasons have come in the last six years and seven have been in the last 11 seasons.
• That comes after Sacramento State had just one season with at least seven victories (7-4, 2000) in its first 21 seasons playing at the NCAA Div. I level (1993-pres.).

CONTINUING THE STREAK

• Lamont Johnson-Burrell stepped in front of pass against Idaho for his second interception of the year giving the Hornets three players with multiple picks for the sixth consecutive years.
• The team is led by safety Koa Akui who has five interceptions. That total is the best by a Sacramento State player since Dre Terrell also had five in 2017. The last Hornet with more than five interceptions in a season was Brent Webber who had six in 2006.
• Jason Oliver also has two interceptions this season. Prior to this season none of the three had recorded an interception during their collegiate career.
• Along with the trio, Oscar Moore, Ricky Lee III and Lono Chouteau also have interceptions to give the team 12 INTS on the season which is tied for 11th in the FCS. Tarleton State leads the nation with 20 interceptions.

DOUBLING DOWN

• The pair of Jaquail Smith and Rodney Hammond each went over 100 rushing yards against Idaho. Smith carried the ball 14 times for 122 yards while Hammond had 26 totes for 120 yards. Overall, the pair provided the bulk of the yards as the team rushed for 282 yards in against the Vandals.
• The game marked the fourth time in the last six contests that Sacramento State has had multiple 100-yard rushers in the same game. The streak began at Weber State with a trio of players going over the century mark for the first time in program history. Cardell Williams led the team with 139 yards and was joined by Smith (135) and Hammond (106). The following week, Hammond had 134 against Northern Colorado and Smith added 103.
• The pair did it again at Eastern Washington with Hammond rushing for a career-high 208 yards and Smith compiling 117. Both players also scored two touchdowns against the Eagles.
• Prior to this season, Sacramento State had never had more than three games in a season with a pair of 100-yard rushers. In 1985, Rob Harrison and Donald Hair combined for three games and that was later matched in 2022 when Cameron Skattebo and Asher O'Hara did it twice and Marcus Fulcher and Skattebo did it once.
• Hammond is also part of another duo which has made Sacramento State history as he's combined with Cardell Williams to become the first pair to each have 11 or more rushing touchdowns in the same season. The duo are now tied for 11th in school single-season history and are two of just 15 players who have double-digit rushing touchdowns in a season in school history.
• Charles Roberts (14) and Ricky Ray (10) are the only others who have had at least 10 rushing TDs in a season as they did it in 2000.

Single-Season Rushing TDs
5. Charles Roberts, 2000, 14
T6. Jordan Robinson, 2016, 13
T6, John Farley, 1982, 13
T8. Kevin Thomson, 2019 (QB), 12
T8. Bryan Hilliard, 2010, 12
T8. Bryan Hilliard, 2008, 12
T11. Rodney Hammond, Jr., 2025, 11
T11. Cardell Williams, 2025, 11
T11. Donald Hair, 1985, 11

WORTH THE WAIT

• Hammond had done a lot before coming to Sacramento State last spring. In parts of four seasons at Pitt, he rushed for 1,546 yards and scored 14 touchdowns  but had never had more than 1,000 rushing yards in a season. That changed last Saturday in the first quarter when Hammond surpassed the milestone to become the 16th 1,000-yard season in program history.
• Hammond ranks second in the Big Sky and 11th in the FCS with an average of 97.8 in all 11 games. He leads the Big Sky at 131.1 in seven conference games.
• Hammond became the first Hornet to rush for 200 yards since Cameron Skattebo had 201 also at Eastern Washington on Oct. 15, 2022.
• Charles Roberts remains the NCAA FCS all-time leader with 13 career 200-yard games. Next on the Sacramento State list is Rob Harrison, Bryan Hilliard and Ryan Mole who each did it twice. Elijah Dotson, John Farley, Tyronne Gross, Troy Mills, Jordan Robinson and Skattebo each rushed for 200 yards once.
• Hammond became the first Hornet to rush for at least 150 yards in back-to-back games since Jordan Robinson had 262 against Portland State and 152 at UC Davis in 2016. Hammond has rushed for at least 100 yards in a quarter in both games. He started the EWU game with 145 in the first quarter to match his career game high. He followed with 131 yards in the third quarter at PSU. That total was aided by a career-long 87-yard run as well as a 41-yard touchdown run. The 87-yard run matches Ryan Mole for the longest in the school's Div. I era.

1,000 Yard Rushing Seasons
1. Charles Roberts, 1998 2,260
2. Charles Roberts, 1999 2,082
3. Troy Mills, 1991 1,668
4. Charles Roberts, 2000, 1,624
5. Cameron Skattebo, 2022, 1,373
6. Rob Harrison, 1986, 1,334
7. Michael Stewart, 1995, 1,161
8. Elijah Dotson, 2018, 1,154
9. John Farley, 1982, 1,137
10. Troy Mills, 1990, 1,103
11. Donald Hair, 1985, 1,097
12. George Sula, 1974, 1,084
13. Bryan Hilliard, 2008, 1,082
14. John Farley, 1983, 1,078
15. Rodney Hammond, Jr., 2025, 1,073
16. Mark Schutz, 1984, 1,064

Single-Season Yards Per Rush Avg.
1. Troy Mills, 1991, 7.48
2. Rob Harrison, 1986, 7.45
3. Cameron Skattebo, 2022, 7.01
4. Charles Roberts, 1999, 6.87
5. Donald Hair, 198,5 6.81
6. Rodney Hammond, Jr., 2025 6.50

Single-Season All-Purpose Yards Needs
4. Cameron Skattebo, 2022, 1,878
5. Charles Roberts, 2000, 1,825
6. Fred Amey, 2002, 1,812
7. Lamont Webb, 2000, 1,797
8. Michael Stewart, 1995, 1,707
9. Fred Amey, 2003, 1,689
10. Rodney Hammond, Jr., 2025 1,662 

TOTAL TEAM EFFORT

• While Hammond has deservedly garnered the majority of the rushing attention, he is not the only Hornet to have success running the ball this season. Sacramento State enters this week ranked third in the FCS in rushing yards per game (256.8) and is on pace to set the school single-season rushing average record.
• The team features three other players who have rushed for over 300 yards this season in Damian Henderson II (537), Jaquail Smith (512) and Cardell Williams (330). 
• Sacramento State is one of four FCS teams to have four different players rush for over 100 yards in a game this season joining Chattanooga, UT Martin and Jackson State.
• The Hornets have rushed for 300 yards in four games this season and just missed a fifth as the they finished with 295 rushing yards at Portland State.

2025 FCS Rushing Offense Rush YPG
1. Delaware State 277.5
2. Jackson State 277.4
3. Sacramento State 256.8
4. Montana State 232.7
5. Sacred Heart 229.7
6. Lehigh 225.8
7. North Dakota State 221.5
8. Alabama State 220.4
9. Tennessee Tech 212.5
10. North Dakota 210.6

Sac State Single-Season Rushing Yards Needs
1. 2022 (13 games) 3,163 338
2. 2025 (11 games) 2,825 ---

Sac State Single-Season Rushing YPG Avg.
1. 2025 (10 games) 256.8
2. 2022 (13 games) 243.3
3. 1991 (10 games) 240.5
4. 1999 (11 games) 234.9

Sac State Single-Season Rushing TDs
1. 2022 (13 games) 36
2. 2025 (10 games) 35
3. 1999 (11 games) 30
4. 2000 (11 games) 29

Sacramento State Rushing Yards (Div. I-era)
1. vs. Idaho State (11/6/99) 470
2. at Weber State (10/11/25) 397
3. vs. Cal Poly (9/9/00) 392
4. at Eastern Washington (10/15/22) 385
5. vs. Utah Tech (9/3/22) 378
6. at Eastern Washington (11/1/25) 376

CAUTION: EXPLOSIVE

• Sacramento State added four more offensive plays of at least 25 yards against Idaho and now has 41 this year.  The total is comprised of 18 rushes and 23 passes.
• Hammond leads the team with nine offensive plays (7 rush, 2 rec) and also has three kickoff returns of at least 40 yards.
• Sam Adams II and Ajon Bryant are the only other members of the team to have at least one rush and one catch of 25 yards.
• Overall, 12 players have plays of at least 25 yards for Sacramento State in 2025.

MAKING THE MOST OF IT

• While the rushing output has skyrocketed over the last six games, quarterback Cardell Williams has attempted no more than 18 passes in five of those six contests. Each of those efforts resulted in a Hornet victory while the exception, where Williams had 32 pass attempts, came in a loss to Montana.
• Over the six-game stretch, Williams has completed 63-of-92 pass attempts (68.5 completion percentage) for 854 yards with 10 touchdowns and two interceptions. 
• Williams completed 10 of his first 11 passes against Idaho and finished the game 14-of-18 for 176 yards. That total included a 26-yard touchdown pass to Ernest Campbell in the third quarter.
• The previous week, Williams was 8-of-11 for 188 yards with two passing TDs to Campbell at Portland State.
• During this streak, Williams completed 5-of-9 passes in miserable weather at Weber State, was 8-of-16 with a TD against Northern Colorado, and 3-of-6 for 15 yards in high winds at Eastern Washington.
• The 15 total passing yards were the second fewest in a game in the school's Div. I era. The only lower total came at Northern Colorado in 2011 when Sacramento State did not attempt a pass.
• The numbers were also in stark contrast to the prior game where Williams set career highs against Montana. In that game, the junior completed 25-of-32 attempts for 332 yards. Williams became the 24th player in school history to throw for over 300 yards in a game.
• The Houston native is tied for the team with 11 rushing touchdowns this season which ties him for 11th in school single-season history. That mark also makes him third among Hornet quarterbacks following Asher O'Hara (19, 2022) and Kevin Thomson (12, 2019).

BEHIND ENEMY LINES

• Sacramento State was held without a sack as the elusive Joshua Wood scrambled away from numerous pressures throughout the game.
• In the two games prior, the Hornets had five sacks at Eastern Washington and six at Portland State to give the team at least five sacks in consecutive games for the first time since 2019.
• Sacramento State now has 37 sacks on the team and its average of 3.36 per game is sixth in the FCS. 
• The team set a season-best eight sacks against UCA which were the third-most by a Hornet team during the Div. I-era. The only games with more sacks by Sacramento State came against Idaho State (Nov. 12, 2011) and at Portland State (Sept. 15, 2007 where the team had 10.
• Sixteen players have recorded at least a share of a sack this season. The group is led by Dylan Hampsten with 8.0. Jayland McGlothen (7.0) and Xavier Williams are second and third, respectively. 
• Hampsten's and McGlothen's totals are the most by a Hornet since Josiah Erickson had 10 in 2021. Twelve players have had at least 10 sacks in a season for Sacramento State, led by 14 from George Obinna in 2019.
• Sacramento State's school single-season sack record of 53 came during the 1986 season. The Div. I-era record of 44 came in 2019. 
• Sacramento State added 10 TFLs at PSU and now has 81 this season. The school single-season record for TFLs in a season in the Div. I-era is 110.0 in 2019. The next closest is 93 in 2017. 
• Sacramento State's current leaders in TFLs are Hampsten (13.0), Deven Wright (10.0) and McGlothen (9.5). Hampsten needs two more TFLs to join the school single-season top 10 list. Zack Nash currently owns 10th place on the list with 15.0 TFLs in 2011.

THE FLASH

• Wide receiver Ernest Campbell scored his fourth touchdown in as many games as he hauled in a 26-yard pass early in the third quarter to give the team a 13-3 lead.
• The touchdown was substantially shorter than the usual score for Campbell who has six touchdowns of 50 yards or longer. The redshirt freshman has already shattered the school Div. I-era single-season record for receptions of at least 50 yards (previous record was four). He is now just one long grab shy of matching Andre Lindsey's career record of seven catches of at least 50 yards.
• Campbell leads the Hornets in every receiving category as he has 36 receptions for 744 yards and eight receiving touchdowns. His average of 20.67 yards per reception leads the Big Sky places him eighth in the FCS. The FCS leader is UTRGV's Xayvion Noland at 23.88 ypr.
• If Campbell scores one more receiving touchdown, he will move into a five-way tie for eighth place in school single-season history. The last player with nine receiving touchdowns in a season was Jared Gipson in 2024.
• Campbell came to the Hornets from Texas A&M where he redshirted in 2024 and did not appear in a game. He did, however, run track for the Aggies and earned honorable mention All-America honors after finishing 22nd at the NCAA Div. I Outdoor Championships in the 100-meter dash. Campbell reached the championships after setting a personal-best at the West Preliminary with a blistering time of 10.02 seconds.
• Campbell's biggest game came against Montana where he started the evening with a 63-yard touchdown and finished the night with nine grabs for 206 yards. He became just the fifth player in school history to have 200 receiving yards in a game and the first freshman to do so.

LET'S GO STREAKING

• Sacramento State has won five of its last six games. Since moving to Div. I in 1993, this is only the seventh time a Hornet team has won four of five games. Five of the eight occurrences have come in the last six years. Dating back to the start of Hornet football in 1954, the team has won five of six 20 times.
• The victory over Idaho guaranteed the team just its 11th winning record in the 32 Div. I seasons.
• The Hornets are now 38-6 when outrushing its opponent since the start of the 2019 season.
• The team is 23-1 when scoring at least 40 points during that same span. The only loss was the 66-63 loss to Incarnate Word in the quarterfinals of the 2022 FCS Playoffs.
• Ernest Campbell has caught at least one pass in each game he's appeared in this season. Campbell did not play in the season opener at South Dakota State but has catches in the last nine games.

STAY SPECIAL

• The Hornets are currently ranked in the top five of two FCS special teams stats. The unit is second in the FCS and leads in the Big Sky in punt return defense as its held the opposition to an average of 1.71 yards per return.
• As expected, that performance has boosted the net punting average of 41.43 yards per attempt which ranks second in the Big Sky and fourth in the FCS. 
• Sacramento State is also 33rd nationally with a kick return average of 21.78 yards per attempt. Individually, Hammond leads the Big Sky and is sixth in the FCS with an average of 29.47 yards per attempt. That average would set the school single-season record of 28.54 ypr which was set by Brian Allred in 1991. The best average in Sacramento State Div. I-era belongs to Kris Daniels (27.53) in 2005.
• Punter Cal McGough is currently averaging 41.78 yards per punt. I strong effort this week would be the first Hornet to have three seasons with an average of at least 42 yards. The Geelong, Australia native moved into fourth for career punt yards at Sacramento State in the game against Montana.

Career Punt Attempts
4. Chris Pappas, 1975-77, 158
5. Augie Heath, 2009-11, 153
6. Cal McGough, 2022-25, 149

Career Punt Yards Total Needs
3. Mitch Lively, 2003-06, 8,370
4. Cal McGough, 2022-25, 6,258

Career Punt Average Avg.
1. Justin Weldon, 2012-13, 44.16
2. Doyle Brunson, 1968-69, 42.27
3. Cal McGough, 2022-25, 42.00

Single-Season PATs PATs Need
2. Brad Cornish, 2014, 56
3. Devon Medeiros, 2017, 52
T4. Zach Schreiner, 2023, 49
T4. Devon Medeiros, 2019, 49
6. Grant Meadors, 2025, 48

SERIES NOTES

• Sacramento State has won three of the past five Causeway Classics and four of the last seven.
• Only three of the last 11 meetings has been decided by one score. Sacramento State won 52-47 in 2017 and 27-21 in 2022 but lost 42-39 last season. Prior to that each of the games between 2009-12 were decided by seven points or less.

SERIES LEADERS
Sacramento State
Rushing 
211, Charles Roberts (34 att., 1 TD), 1999
185, Troy Mills (21 att., 2 TD), 1991
173, Troy Mills (29 att., 0 TD), 1990

Passing
396, AJ Barnhardt (20-42-0-2), 1997
377, Ricky Ray (19-27-0-4), 1999
341, Greg Knapp (22-38-2-2), 1984

Receiving
197, Mitch Oliver (7 rec., 3 TD), 1995
176, Jason Barnes (6 rec.), 2006
174, Clint Primm (11 rec.), 1992

Tackles (1980-pres.)
17, Darnell Sankey (6-11), 2015
16, Ryland Wickman (6-10, 2 TFL, Sack), 1997
15, Henry Fernandez (8-7, 2 TFL), 2014
15, Immanuel Anderson (9-6), 2018

UC Davis
Rushing
249, Manusamoa Luuga (38 att., TD), 2016
243, Preston Jackson (27 att., 2 TD), 1993
189, Jermaine Rucker (30 att., 4 TD), 1995

Passing
478, Jake Maier (37-46-0-4), 2018
379, Kevin Daft (26-39-0-4), 1997
378, Mark Grieb (23-39-3-1), 1996

Receiving
207, Keelan Doss, (7 rec., 4 TD), 2016
205, Keelan Doss (16 rec., 2 TD), 2018
198, Allen Fleming (8 rec., 2 TD), 1982

Tackles (1980-pres.)
17, Ed McNichol (7-10, 2 TFL), 1988
14, Three times