A BRIEF PREVIEW

• The Sacramento State football team will continue its season-opening road swing as it plays at Nevada on Saturday, Sept. 6. The game against the Wolf Pack kicks off at 2 p.m. from Mackay Stadium.
• The Hornets enter the week with an 0-1 record following an 20-3 loss at No. 3 South Dakota State last Saturday in Brookings, S.D. The Sacramento State defense recorded 11 tackles-for-loss, including seven sacks in the game. However, the offense managed just 136 total yards and was limited to seven first downs.
• Despite being former conference mates and only being separated by 133 miles, matchups between the Hornets and Wolf Pack have been rare in recent years. This week is the first meeting since 2004 and just the second since 1991.
• Hornet fans can tune in to ESPN 1320 AM to hear the radio call of Jason Ross, Steve McElroy and Danny Sullivan. Live audio streaming is also available via www.hornetsports.com and the Audacy app.
• The game will also be aired streamed on the Mountain West Network with Alex Margulies (play-by-play), Lucas Weber (analyst) and Shannon Kelly (sideline).

OPPONENT PREVIEW: NEVADA

• Nevada faced a massive challenge in its opener, playing at FBS No. 2 Penn State on Saturday in Happy Valley. The Nittany Lions scored the game's first 17 points and led 27-3 at the half. Penn State pushed the lead to 46-3 early in the fourth quarter before the Wolf Pack got a touchdown and two-point conversion with 25 seconds left in the game to make it 46-11.
• Quarterback Chubba Purdy accounted for the majority of Nevada's offense in the game. Purdy, who's the younger brother of San Francisco 49ers QB Brock Purdy, led the team with 55 rushing yards and completed 7-of-15 passes for 97 yards with an interception. A.J. Bianco came on to pass for 28 yards (4-of-6) and rush for 12 yards.
• Former Hornet Murvin Kenion III tied for team lead in tackles with Stone Combs as each had eight. As a team, the Wolf Pack had six TFLs with a sack but surrendered 438 yards of offense.
• Jeff Choate is in his second season as the head coach at Nevada. Choate is no stranger to the Hornets and head coach Brennan Marion. Sacramento State previously faced him when he was the head coach at Montana State from 2016-20. Choate left the Bobcats to become the co-defensive coordinator at Texas where he was on the same staff as Marion during the 2022 season.
• Nevada leads the all-time series, 17-9, and has won the five most recent meetings.

A LOOK AT THE LATEST ACTION

• Sacramento State held No. 3 South Dakota State scoreless for over 30 minutes of the game but the Hornet offense could not get in rhythm in a 20-3 loss to the Jackrabbits at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.
• The Hornet defense tallied seven sacks and 11 tackles-for-loss. The unit was led by a career-high 14 tackles from linebacker Derek Houston and a pair of sacks from defensive tackle Jayland McGlothen.
• The first quarter ended in a 3-3 tie but saw the Jackrabbits control the statistics. SDSU used eight plays on the opening drive to travel 68 yards before Koa Akui forced a fumble which was recovered by Deven Wright at the Hornet 4-yard line. After Sacramento State went 3-and-out, South Dakota State took advantage of the short field to take a 3-0 lead on a 22-yard field goal from Eli Stader.
• The Hornets tied the game on its next possession. The drive was setup after a muffed punt was recovered by Akui at the Jackrabbit 23. Grant Meadors tied the contest with a 36-yard field goal with 5:18 left in the opening period.
• South Dakota State moved back ahead with a pair of touchdowns in the second quarter. The first came on a 4-yard pass to tight end Andrew Gustad on a 4th-and-goal play. The second followed a fourth-down stop by the Jackrabbits near midfield and led to a 3-yard rush from Lofton O'Groske.
• Both teams struggled moving the ball in the second half. Sacramento State had three punts and turned the ball over on downs twice while finishing the half with 65 yards. SDSU started the half with a pair of punts, missed a field goal and scored the only second-half points of the game with a 28-yarder from Stader.
• South Dakota State controlled the ball during the game with 41:06 time of possession. The Jackrabbits ran 79 plays compared to 51 from the Hornets and outgained Sacramento State, 430-136.

MOVING ON UP

• Facing a Football Bowl Subdivision opponent is nothing new for Sacramento State. Since 2002, the team has played at least one FBS foe every season. Included in that list was the 2011 upset at Oregon State, the 2012 victory at Colorado, a convincing win at Colorado State in 2022 and 2023's thrilling victory at Stanford.
• The only FCS team with more wins over FBS opponents than Sacramento State since 2011 is North Dakota State. The Bison have five wins but don't face and FBS team this season. The Hornets are tied with Eastern Washington with four wins during the span.
• In 2023, Marcus Fulcher caught a check down pass and scampered down the right sideline for a 49-yard touchdown with 1:32 remaining to break a tie and give the team a 30-23 win over the Cardinal.
• Sacramento State never trailed on the way to topping Colorado State, 41-10, in 2022. The Hornets outgained the Rams by over 100 yards and limited CSU to just 75 rushing yards.
• In 2012, Sacramento State began the year with a loss at New Mexico State before winning at Colorado, 30-28, with a field goal as time expired.
• In 2011, the Hornets jumped out to an early lead only to see Oregon State rally to force overtime behind a strong second-half rushing performance. After a TD put the Beavers up seven in overtime, the Hornets scored and then won the game with a two-point conversion, 29-28.
• The Hornets' only other victories over a Div. I-A/FBS team both came against Pacific. Sacramento State defeated the Tigers, 30-21, in 1988 and 43-40 in 1991.
• Nearly every FBS opponent Sacramento State has faced since 2002 played in the Pac-12 (Oregon State, California, Stanford, Colorado, Washington) or Mountain West (Nevada, Boise State, Fresno State, New Mexico, Colorado State, UNLV). The lone exceptions have been New Mexico State in 2012 and Idaho in 2017 who were both members of the Sun Belt Conference at the time.

PARTY IN THE BACKFIELD

• The Hornet defense started the year with 11 TFLs, including seven sacks at South Dakota State. The sack figure is even more impressive when you consider that the Jackrabbits surrendered just eight sacks all of last season.
• The seven sacks were the most by the team since also having seven in last season's home opener against Nicholls on Sept. 14. The school record of 10 sacks came at Portland State in 2007 and was later matched against Idaho State in 2011. Saturday's effort is tied for third in the school's Div. I-AA/FCS era and marked sixth time the team finished the game with seven sacks.
• On Saturday, Jayland McGlothen led the team with two sacks. Those QB takedowns were the first sacks of McGlothen's young career. The other sacks came from Xavier Williams (1.5), Derek Houston, Dylan Hampsten, Brodie Tagaloa (half sack), Jason Oliver (half sack) and DeSean Watts (half sack). The sacks were the first career for each except for Hampsten who had one last season for San Jose State.
• The only FCS team with more sacks than the Hornets during the opening weekend was Valparaiso which tallied eight against Virginia Lynchburg. 

PICKING UP WHERE HE LEFT OFF

• Linebacker Derek Houston ended last season with 32 tackles over the final four games. During that stretch, he posted eight tackles against Portland State, four at Montana State, nine at Cal Poly and 11 against UC Davis. Houston took his performance to another level as he led all players with 14 tackles at South Dakota State.
• That total included 11 solo stops and gave Houston his second double-digit tackle game of his career. Houston's total places him third in the Big Sky behind Cal Poly's Mike D'Amato (16) and UC Davis' Rex Connors (15).
• The sophomore entered the season as the team's leading returning tackler after amassing 62 stops in 2024.

BALL HOGS

• South Dakota State controlled possession against the Hornets, running 79 total plays compared to 51 for Sacramento State. The Hornets' total is tied for the eighth-fewest in the school's Div. I-AA/FCS era.
• As expected with the play total, Sacramento State held possession for only 18:54 of the game. The game marked the first time that the team was ever held to less than 20 minutes of possession in a game since the team moved to Div. I-AA in 1993. The previous low mark was 20:49 against Northern Colorado on Oct. 28, 2006 in a game the Hornets won, 14-9.

LETTING IT FLY

• Punter Cal McGough was called upon five times at South Dakota State and responded by averaging 46.2 yards per punt. McGough had two punts of 44 yards, one of 47 and a pair of 48-yarders while landing one inside the 20-yard line.
• Combined with great coverage which limited the Jackrabbits to minus-5 punt return yards, the Hornets had a net punting average of 47.2 yards per attempt. Sacramento State ranks second in the FCS only trailing St. Thomas which had a net of 49.67 on three attempts against Lindenwood.
• McGough remains third in school history with a career punting average of 42.19 yards per attempt. That mark trails Justin Weldon who averaged 44.16 from 2012-13 and Doyle Brunson (42.27, 1968-69). McGough is also eighth in school history with 4,979 career punting yards and needs just three more punts to crack the school top 10 for attempts.

OH CAPTAIN

• Sacramento State named six captains prior to the start of the 2025 season. Head coach Brennan Marion tabbed defensive lineman Xavier Williams and offensive lineman Aidan Meek before fall camp began. The team then voted running backs Rodney Hammond, Jr. and Jamar Curtis, safety Koa Akui and Houston as the remaining captains.
• Each of the captains played large roles for the team at South Dakota State. Houston led the team in tackles while Akui ranked second with nine stops. The safety also forced a fumble at the 5-yard line and recovered a fumble on a muffed punt which set up the team's field goal. Williams had three solo stops, including two for loss and a sack.
• On offense, Meek played every snap at right tackle while Hammond and Curtis had the two best rushing totals on the team.

GETTING BACK ON STAGE

• Quarterback Jaden Rashada started a game for the first time since Nov. 25, 2023 when he led Arizona State as a true freshman against Arizona. Rashada finished the night at South Dakota State by completing 11-of-27 passes for 107 yards.
• A big chunk of those yards came on a 33-yard completion to Jordan Anderson in the second quarter for his longest completion.
• Sacramento State made national news with the signing of Jaden Rashada during the spring. Rashada began his collegiate career at Arizona State where he redshirted in 2023. That season, he started games against Southern Utah, Oklahoma State and Arizona and finished the year 44-of-82 for 485 yards and four touchdowns.
• Rashada transferred to Georgia for the 2024 season but did not appear in a game for the Bulldogs. He returned to Northern California where he starred at Pittsburg HS. During his final two seasons, he threw for 5,275 yards and 59 touchdowns and was named the No. 7 quarterback in the 2023 class.
• Cardell Williams made his Hornet debut by coming on for one play. His appearance continued a streak where the team has played multiple quarterbacks in nine of the last 10 season openers.

VIEW FROM THE TOP

• Jamar Curtis came to Sacramento State as one of the top FCS-to-FCS transfers in the offseason. Curtis was named preseason second team All-America by Stats Perform, and FCS Football Central and was a third-team selection by Phil Steele. In addition, Curtis was named to the Walter Payton Award watch list.
• Curtis had a decorated three years at Lafayette where he was the 2024 Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year, a two-time Walter Payton Award finalist, two-time FCS All-American and two-time first team all-Patriot League selection.
• Last season, he rushed for 1,139 yards and scored 19 touchdowns. Curtis added receptions for 232 yards and ranked 19th in the FCS with 115.7 all-purpose yards per game.
• As a sophomore, he was named second team FCS All-American by the Associated Press and Stats Perform after rushing for 1,460 yards and 15 scores.
• Curtis is one of two current FCS players with over 3,000 career rushing yards and is one of only two to have at least 30 rushing touchdowns.

Active FCS Career Rushing Yards Total

1. Julius Loughridge (Fordham/SDSU) 3,281
2. Jamar Curtis (Lafayette/Sac St.) 3,075 
3. Mari Adams (Davidson) 2,366 
4. Roland Dempster (Stony Brook) 2,131 
5. Ryan Ingram (Chattanooga) 2,088 
6. Wengers Wright (Illinois State) 2,065
7. Mason Sheron (Davidson) 2,028
8. Elijah Howard (CCSU) 1,983
9. Kendric Rhymes (Tenn. State) 1,836 
10. Charles Pierre (South Dakota) 1,765 

Active FCS Career Rushing TDs Total

1. Jamar Curtis (Lafayette/Sac St) 32
2. Mari Adams (Davidson) 31 
3. Eli Gilman (Montana) 28 
4. Julius Loughridge (Fordham/SDSU) 27 
5. Mason Sheron (Davidson) 25

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE

• Curtis is not the only threat in the new-look Sacramento State backfield. The Hornets brought in four FBS transfers in Rodney Hammond, Jr. (Pitt), Savion Red (Texas/Nevada), Sam Adams II (Washington) and Damian Henderson II (Colorado State), a junior college All-American and a high school back to join a pair of returners.
• Curron Borders and Michael Johnson are the only returning backs from a year ago. Borders ranked second on the team with 361 rushing yards and had 101 receiving yards. However, he will likely miss the 2025 season after suffering a knee injury. Johnson was the team's primary kick returner where he averaged 20.7 yards per return. In limited action in the backfield, he managed 94 yards on 12 carries (7.8 ypc).
• Hammond amassed 1,546 yards and 15 touchdowns in 36 games at Pitt. He led the team with 547 yards and three touchdowns in 2023 before redshirting a year ago.
• Red ranked second among Nevada backs in 2025 with 687 yards and tied for the team lead with eight TDs. He had three 100-yard games during the year including a season-best 137 at Oregon State.
•  Adams spent four years at Washington and was part of the team which reached the national title game during the 2024 season. He is the son of former NFL defensive tackle Sam Adams.
• Henderson averaged nearly five yards per carry in limited action as a redshirt freshman for CSU last season. While at Los Alamitos HS in Southern California, he was a four-star recruit and was named first team all-Southern Section Div. I after rushing for 1,744 yards and 23 touchdowns.
• Elias Brown played the last two seasons at nearby American River JC where he was coached by former Hornet All-American Jon Osterhout. Brown rushed for 1,148 and 16 touchdowns in 2024 on the way to being named a JC Athletic Bureau All-American and earning first team all-Region I honors.
• The lone true freshman is Jaquail Smith from Jones HS in Orlando, Fla. As a senior, Smith rushed for 1,805 yards and 22 touchdowns, He was a three-star recruit by 247Sports and a two-star from Rivals.

NEW TARGETS

• While the Hornet running backs combined for 8,293 yards and 66 touchdowns at the FBS and FCS levels prior to this year, the receiving corps had totaled 75 receptions for 1,009 yards and eight touchdowns.
• Over three-quarters of the total and nearly all the touchdowns belong to Gavin Thomson who has 50 career grabs for 765 yards and seven scores. Thomson began his career at Pitt before transferring to UNLV. He played the 2024 season at FCS Saint Francis and had a breakout season with 46 receptions for 726 yards and seven touchdowns.
• The only returning wide receiver to catch a pass as a Hornet is Onterrio Smith, Jr. Last season, Smith caught five balls for 29 yards, including a touchdown.
• In the season opener, each of the 11 receptions came from players who were not with the Hornets in 2024. Jordan Anderson led the group with four receptions for 49 yards. Running back Jamar Curtis and wide receiver Tim Conerly were the only other players to have multiple receptions as each hauled in a pair of passes. The remaining catches came from tight end Jordan Williams and running backs Damian Henderson II and Rodney Hammond, Jr.

ROSTER REMODEL

• With 71 new players on the roster, the 2025 edition of the Hornets have a decidedly different look from last year's team. Sacramento State returned just six players who started at least six games a year ago comprised of three on offense, two on defense and one specialist.
• The haul of newcomers has garnered national attention as the class was ranked as the best in the FCS by 247Sports. Running back Jamar Curtis was named the second best FCS-to-FCS transfer in 2025 as he moved to Sacramento State following three stellar seasons at Lafayette. The class is also balanced with 35 players on the offensive side, 32 on defense and four specialists.
• Of the 37 four-year transfers on the roster, eight have come from Power 4 Conferences comprised of QB Jaden Rashada (Georgia), RB Rodney Hammond, Jr. (Pitt), kickers Joseph Firebaugh (UCLA) and Grant Meadors (Oregon), WR Ernest Campbell (Texas A&M), LB Dylan Gooden (Maryland), DL Brodie Tagaloa (Nebraska) and RB Sam Adams II (Washington). The next largest group (23) comes from G5 while five are from fellow FCS schools and one from NCAA Div. II.
•  The 2025 Hornet roster has players from 18 states and travels coast to coast. Safeties Koa Akui and Nash Burkhart hail from Hawaii while the East Coast is represented by athletes from Maryland, Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.
• California remains the most represented state with 65 players from the Golden State. That includes 11 players from Los Angeles County and nine from Sacramento County.
• Outside of California, 14 players claim Texas as their home state. The next highest total comes from Nevada with four.
• Continuing a trend in college football, the Hornets will have a pair of punters from Australia in senior Cal McGough and incoming freshman Hamish Adams.

VIEW FROM THE SIDELINES

• Only two members from last season's coaching staff return for the 2025 season. As he has done since 2019, Kris Richardson will mentor the offensive line. Richardson will be joined by his son, and former Hornet, Kaden, who serves as a graduate assistant. Bobby Fresques will shift from quarterbacks coach/offensive coordinator to lead analyst this season. Fresques, who played QB for the program, will also work with the team's tight ends.
• Marion is serving as a collegiate head coach for the first time in 2025. He has collegiate coaching experience at UNLV, Texas, Pitt, William & Mary and Howard and has also been a high school head coach.
• Kenneth Merchant came with Marion from UNLV. Merchant leads the team's quarterbacks and will work with Marion to design the team's offense.
• AC Patterson (RBs/Co-OC) brings Big Sky Conference experience having served at Portland State from 2015-18 and then again from 2022-24.  
• The defensive leadership is guided by defensive coordinator Marcus Patton. The former DC at Tarleton State, Patton most recently was the cornerbacks coach at Colorado State. 
• Josh Brown (LB/Co-DC) returns to Sacramento State where he coached from 2007-08. Since then, Brown has worked at Kansas, Cal Poly, UTEP, Hawaii and McNeese.
• Darrin Walls is the team's defensive passing game coordinator. Walls played collegiately at Notre Dame and then in the NFL for six years. Walls was the co-defensive coordinator at UAlbany from 2021-24.
• Rob Wenger will lead the special teams. Wenger has been a special teams coordinator since 2013 with stints at Western Michigan (2013-16) and Minnesota (2017-24). 
• The rest of the staff is comprised of Robbie Bell (TEs), Nathan Kenion (safeties), Sidhart Krishnamurthi (WRs), Ed McGilvra (DL) and Jake Vang (Edges) who are all in their first year as full-time collegiate coaches.

FAMILY TIES

• Running back Sam Adams II is the son of former NFL DT Sam Adams. The elder Adams played in the NFL from 1994-2007 and won a Super Bowl with Baltimore in 2001. He also played with Seattle, Oakland, Buffalo, Cincinnati and Denver. The younger Adams began his collegiate career at Washington (2021-24).
• Outside linebacker Dylan Gooden is the son of former MLB all-star pitcher Dwight Gooden. Dwight played for the Mets, Yankees (twice), Indians, Astros and Rays between 1984-2000.He was a four-time all-star, N.L. Cy Young Winner (1985) and two time World Series champion. Dylan started his collegiate career at Maryland near his hometown of Columbia, Md.
• Wide receiver Onterrio Smith, Jr., is the son of his namesake father. Onterrio, Sr., was a high school All-American at Grant HS in Sacramento and went to play collegiately at Tennessee and Oregon. He played two seasons in the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings.
• Defensive lineman Xavier Williams is the younger brother of former Hornet wide receiver Pierre Williams. Pierre was a three-time first team all-Big Sky selection and ended his career ranked second in school history with 2,971 career receiving yards.
• Freshman linebacker Jackson Cahoon is the son of former Hornet linebacker J.B. Cahoon. J.B. played for Sacramento State from 1992-94 and was a first team all-American West Conference as a linebacker.
• Offensive lineman Luke Slater is the younger brother of former Hornet Jackson Slater. Jackson played for the team between 2021-24 and was a consensus FCS All-American and three-time first team all-Big Sky selection. He was selected in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL Draft by the Tennessee Titans.
• Wide receiver Jaxon Fresques is the great-nephew of Hornet analyst Bobby Fresques. 
• Defensive assistant DeAndre Pierce is the son of former NFL linebacker and Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce.
• Anthony "Shark" Rozier, the special assistant to the head coach, is the grandson of MLB legend and Hall of Famer Hank Aaron.

QUICK HITTERS

• Jaden Rashada became the 33rd quarterback to start a game for the Hornets in the school's Div. I-AA/FCS era.
• Grant Meadors converted his first field goal attempt of his college career with a 36-yarder at South Dakota State.
• The Hornets had scored a touchdown in 83 consecutive games until finishing with three points at SDSU. The last time Sacramento State did not have a TD was in a 28-6 loss at Idaho on Aug. 31, 2017.
• The 2025 season will be the team's final in the Big Sky Conference. Sacramento State will move the majority of its sports to The Big West in the fall of 2026. At this time, football will compete as an FCS independent next season.
• Hornet Stadium will feature a new LED lighting system this year. The lights can change color and also have effects to help add to the in-game environment. Other improvements at Hornet Stadium this year include seating in the south end zone and video panels along each sideline.
• Five players with Sacramento State ties made opening day NFL rosters. The group is comprised of WR/KR DeAndre Carter who begins his 10th NFL season, and first with the Cleveland Browns, LB Marte Mapu (New England), OL Jackson Slater (Tennessee), CB Daron Bland (Dallas) and RB Cameron Skattebo (New York Giants).

SERIES NOTES

• Sacramento State and Nevada will rekindle what was a long-standing rivalry. The teams played each other in all but one year (1971) between 1954-1978. Since that time, however, the schools have only faced one another in 1990 and 2004 before this season.
• This week's game will be the sixth out of the last seven meetings to take place in Reno, Nev. The only exception was the 1978 game which was held at Hornet Stadium.
• Nevada has dominated the last five games, winning by an average of 40.0 points per contest. This includes a 75-0 win in 1977 which remains the largest margin of defeat in school history.

CONNECTIONS

• Each team has two players on their 2025 roster which played for the other school last season. Sacramento State's roster includes running back Savion Red and defensive lineman Kris Ross who were members of the Wolf Pack in 2024. That season, Red ranked second on the team with 687 rushing yards and tied for the team lead with eight touchdowns. Ross had 29 tackles that season, including 5.5 for loss and 2.5 sacks.
• Safety Murvin Kenion III and linebacker Nakian Jackson are each in their first season with the Wolf Pack. Kenion ranked fourth on the team with 51 total tackles in his first campaign with the Hornets. Jackson tied for second on the team with 62 total tackles, including 4.5 for loss.
• Oscar Moore and Nevada CB AJ Odums, DL Logologo Va'a and WR Marcus Bellon were teammates at UTEP.
• Deven Wright and Nevada WR Charles Brown and OL Trenton Scott played at Texas State together.
• Brodie Tagaloa and Nevada DB Cooper Wilson and QB Chubba Purdy were teammates at Nebraska.
• Sam Adams II and Nevada LB Austin Harnetiaux played at Washington together.
• Nevada has several players from the Sacramento area comprised of RB Carter Jackson (Folsom HS), RB Caleb Ramseur (Monterey Trail HS), DB Isaiah Jordan (Christian Brothers HS), DL Johnathan Correa (Rocklin HS/American River JC) and WR Mason Johnson (West Park HS).