A BRIEF PREVIEW

• With its record even for the first time this season, the Sacramento State football team will enter Big Sky Conference play on Saturday when it faces Cal Poly at Hornet Stadium. The game against the Mustangs will kick off at 6 p.m. and will be Healthcare Appreciation Night.
• The Hornets improved to 2-2 on the season with a 45-16 victory over Central Arkansas last weekend. Sacramento State has scored 45 or more points and surpassed at least 500 yards of total offense during their two-game win streak.
• Saturday will mark the start of the 29th Big Sky season for the Hornets which joined the league in 1996. Sacramento State announced earlier this season that it will transition the majority of its sports to The Big West beginning in 2026-27. As it stands today, football will play as an FCS independent beginning next year.  The only other time the Hornets started Big Sky play against Cal Poly came in 2022 where the team won 49-21 in San Luis Obispo.
• This week's game will be streamed on ESPN+ and aired locally on KMAX 31. The team of Jason Ross and former Sacramento State player and Arena Football Hall of Famer Darren Arbet return to call the action.
• Hornet fans can tune in to ESPN 1320 AM to hear the radio call of Dave Lewis, Steve McElroy and Danny Sullivan. Live audio streaming is also available via www.hornetsports.com and the Audacy app.

OPPONENT PREVIEW: CAL POLY

• Cal Poly is also 2-2 on the season after falling at Stephen F. Austin, 35-17, on Saturday. The Mustangs started the year with a win at San Diego and trounced Western Oregon, 56-7, in week three. The team's other loss came at Utah (63-9).
• Quarterback Ty Diffenbach, a transfer from Pitt, leads the team in passing and rushing during his first season with the Mustangs. Diffenbach has completed 67.4 percent of his passes, thrown for 579 yards with five touchdowns with just one interception. He has also rushed for 89 yards and a TD. Wide receiver Michael Briscoe has been his favorite target with 20 receptions for 428 yards and seven scores.
• Mikey D'Amato and Kenny Olson are the top two tacklers with 37 and 34, respectively. Those totals are at least 16 more than anyone else on the team.
• Cal Poly holds a narrow 22-21 lead in the all-time series which dates back to 1967. Sacramento State had its three-game win streak in the series snapped last year where the Mustangs won 26-23.

HAMPSTEN EARNS BIG SKY HONOR

• Edge rusher Dylan Hampsten was named the co-Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week, it was announced on Monday. Hampsten led a stellar effort by the Hornet defense as he accounted for five total tackles, including three tackles-for-loss and 2.5 sacks.
• In four games this season, Hampsten ranks second on the team with 5.5 TFLs and 3.5 sacks.
• The Santa Clarita, Calif., native came to the Hornets during the offseason after spending two seasons at San Jose State. He redshirted in 2023 before having 19 tackles, including 4.5 TFLs last season. His biggest game came against the Hornets where he had three tackles, a sack and forced a fumble in the season opener.
• Hampsten shared this week's honor with UC Davis' Jacob Psyk. The offensive player of the week award was split between Montana QB Keali'i Ah Yat and NAU QB Ty Pennington. Montana's Ty Morrison was named the special teams player of the week.
• Hampsten is the second Hornet to be named Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week, following Koa Akui after he had two interceptions at Nevada.

SUPERSIZE IT

• The Hornets ran 61 plays for a season-high 602 yards against Central Arkansas. The average of 9.87 yards per play was the fourth best in school history.
• Sacramento State Most Yards Per Play
  1. vs. Saint Francis 9/1/18 10.68
  2. vs. Southern Oregon 8/31/19 10.22
  3. vs. Montana State 10/4/14 10.06
  4. vs. Central Arkansas 9/20/25 9.87
  5. vs. Cal Poly 11/11/23 8.54
   
• Helping Sacramento State's cause was 10 plays of at least 20 yards against the Bears. That total included seven pass plays and three rushes. The Hornets also only lost four yards during the game and had only five incompletions.
• Damian Henderson II had the longest play of the game with an 85-yard touchdown run in the first quarter for his fourth score in the last two games. The play was the longest by a Hornets since Ryan Mole had an 87-yard touchdown run against Montana State on Nov. 6, 2004 — when Henderson was seven months old.
• Sacramento State also had a 52-yard completion from Cardell Williams to Jordan Anderson, a 45-yard strike from Williams to Jace Wilson (his first catch as a Hornet) and a 50-yard touchdown pass from Jaden Rashada to Ernest Campbell.
• The touchdown was Rashada's first at Sacramento State and his first since a 31-yarder for Arizona State against Arizona on Nov. 25, 2023. Campbell has scored a touchdown of at least 50 yards in three consecutive games. He now ranks second in school single-season history for TD receptions of 50 yards or longer, trailing only Andre Lindsey who had TDs of 69, 60, 56 and 53 in 2017. 
• Campbell started his streak with a 75-yard touchdown at Nevada on his first collegiate reception and added a 57-yard touchdown against Mercyhurst. He has caught eight passes this season for a team-high 228 yards. His average of 28.50 yards per catch places him second in the FCS among players who have played more than one game. UTRGV's Xayvion Noland is the current national leader at 36.15 yards per catch.
• 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 finished 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.

RETURN OF SACK STATE

• With eight sacks against Central Arkansas, Sacramento State is now the national Div. I leader with 18 sacks on the year. The Hornets started the season with seven sacks at South Dakota State, did not have a sack at Nevada and three against Mercyhurst.
• The eight sacks 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, 2007where the team had 10.
• The team's total places the Hornets five sacks clear of the next closest FCS team (four teams with 13). If you include all of NCAA Div. I, Sacramento State is two sacks ahead of the four FBS leaders which have 16.
• Eleven players have recorded at least a share of a sack this season. The group is led by Jayland McGlothen who has tallied five. Hampsten is second with 3.5, Xavier Williams has two and DeSean Watts 1.5. Five others have one sack and two share a sack. 
• McGlothen's mark is the most by a Hornet since Armon Bailey had six in 2022. 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. 

LOOKING TO MAKE HISTORY

• In the 71 seasons of Hornet football, Sacramento State has only had three consecutive games 12 times prior to this year. The most recent occurrence came in 2022 when the team ended the regular season against UC Davis and, following a bye, hosted Richmond and Incarnate Word in the FCS Playoffs.
• The last time the Hornets played three consecutive regular-season home games came in 2017 when it welcomed Incarnate Word (win), Weber State (loss) and Southern Utah (win). The most consecutive home games for the team came in 1956 when the team played five straight and went 2-3 in those games.
• Sacramento State has a chance to make history this weekend as it enters the game against Cal Poly having won its first two games of the homestand. The Hornets have gone 2-1 five times in previous three-game homestands but have never gone 3-0.

SHARING IS CARING

• Brennan Marion has described his GoGo offense as "basketball on grass". He envisions the quarterback as the point guard who is constantly looking to share the ball and keep his teammates involved in the game.
• Through the first four games the Hornet quarterbacks have done exactly that, connecting with 12 different receivers. The team has also had 12 players with a rushing attempt
• Counting return yards, 18 Hornets have had all-purpose yards (rushing/receiving/return yards). The group is led by Rodney Hammond, Jr., who has 321 yards. Damian Henderson II is the only other player above 300 yards as he has 303.

RANKINGS REHASH

• For the first time this season, the Hornets moved up in the national rankings. Sacramento State moved from 24th in the Stats Perform media poll to 21st. In the AFCA coaches poll, the team jumped from 22nd to 21st. The team started the year ranked 15th by the media and 14th by the coaches but moved down in the three following weeks.
• This week will mark the 50th game that the Hornets have been ranks since 2019. Sacramento State had only played six games in the top 25 from 1993-2018.

TURNOVER TIDBITS

• The game against Central Arkansas was the first one this year that the Hornets did not create a turnover. Sacramento State started the year with two fumble recoveries at South Dakota State and intercepted a pair of passes against Nevada and Mercyhurst. 
• The Hornets lost a fumble on a kick return and are now plus-one in turnover margin on the year.
• Safety Koa Akui has played a role in five of the team's six takeaways this season. Akui leads the team with three interceptions, forced a fumble and recovered a fumble on separate plays. His three interceptions (0.75 per game) tie him for third among FCS players who have played in more than one game this season. Since moving to the FCS in 1993 only 30 Sacramento State players have had more than three interceptions in a season. The high mark during that time belongs to Marvin Brown who had seven in 1994.
• Akui did not have an interception in his first two seasons with the team. He played in seven games as a redshirt freshman in 2023 where he had seven total tackles. Last season, he had one tackle in the opener at San Jose State and then missed the remainder of the year due to an injury. 

ONE YARD AWAY

• The Sacramento State offensive line was extremely close to its second-consecutive game without allowing a sack. After keeping the quarterback clean against Mercyhurst, the o-line surrendered one sack for a loss of 1 yard. The Hornets have used the same starting lineup in the last two games with Jordan Herman at left tackle, Kenndel Riley at left guard, Dean Abdullah at center, Jose Soto at right guard and Aidan Meek at right tackle.
• The Hornets shuffled their line in the first two games after allowing two sacks at SDSU and three at Nevada for a combined total of 38 yards.

COMBINING POWERS

• Cardell Williams and Jaden Rashada combined to account for four touchdowns and over 400 yards of total offense in the win over Central Arkansas. Williams was 15-of-20 for 252 yards and a passing TD and also rushed for 61 yards and two scores. Rashada came on in the fourth quarter and immediately connected on passes of 38 and 50 yards on his two pass attempts with the latter going for a touchdown.
• The game was the highest completion percentage and passing yards for the team during the season. Williams has raised his completion percentage of 68.6 percent and has thrown four touchdowns with one interception. He is also third on the team with 140 yards and ranks second with three rushing TDs.
• Williams is no stranger to seeing game action as he played in 15 games for Tulsa from 2023-24. During that time, he threw for 1,186 yards and 10 touchdowns and also rushed for 267 yards and seven scores. In 2023, he tied the Tulsa freshman record by accounting for 15 touchdowns (10 passing, five rushing).
• Rashada began his collegiate career at Arizona State where he played in three games in 2023. He was a member of the team at Georgia in 2024 but did not appear in a game for the Bulldogs. Coming out of Pittsburg HS he was ranked as the seventh best QB in the nation by 247Sports.

MORE FOR MOORE

• Linebacker Oscar Moore has led the team in tackles in the last two games — both Hornet victories. Moore had eight tackles against Mercyhurst and added seven against Central Arkansas.
• Against Mercyhurst, Moore enjoyed his best game in a young Sacramento State career as he led the team with eight stops, including a sack and 1.5 TFLs. He also intercepted a pass in the final minutes and had a pass breakup.
• The transfer from UTEP matched his career high in tackles, recorded his first sack and intercepted a pass for the third time in his career. Moore's last interception came at Middle Tennessee during the 2023 season.
• Moore is now second on the team with 24 tackles. The team lead belongs to fellow linebacker Derek Houston who has 30 stops in the first four games.

SERIES NOTES

• The only team Sacramento State has faced more often than Cal Poly (43 previous meetings) is UC Davis (70).
• A win by the Hornets would tie the all-time series and give the team an 11-10 lead in games played in Sacramento.
• Last year's game was the first close contest to go in Cal Poly's favor. The Hornets are now 7-1 in games decided by three points or less and 11-3 in games decided by seven points or loss.

CONNECTIONS

• Sacramento State co-DC/LB coach Josh Brown was on the Cal Poly staff from 2010-19.
• Cal Poly HC Paul Wulff, Assistant HC/DL coach Will Plemons, TE coach Joey Muscarella and DB coach Brandyn Thompson each coached at Sacramento State. Additionally, assistant DL coach Josh Letuligasenoa prepped at Elk Grove HS.
• The Mustang roster features 12 players who attended Sac-Joaquin Section high schools. That is comprised of three from St. Mary's (Stockton) two from Rocklin HS, Cosumnes Oaks HS and Vacaville HS and one from Monterey Trail HS, Central Catholic HS and River City HS. 

SERIES LEADERS

Rushing
240, Charles Roberts (30 att., 3 TD), 2000
222, Charles Roberts (37 att., 2 TD), 1998
183, Garrett White (25 att., 0 TD), 2002

Passing
377, Tony Corbin (16-37, 2 INT, 4 TD), 1996
335, Nate Ketteringham (33-42, 0 INT, 4 TD), 2015
331, Aaron Garcia (15-32, 1 INT, 3 TD), 1993

Receiving
186, Eric Harrington (8 rec., 2 TD), 1993
154, Jared Gipson (5 rec.), 2023
152, Nnamdi Agude (10 rec.), 2014

Tackles
16, Immanuel Anderson (7-9), 2016
16, Jesse Klinge (8-8, TFL), 1996
15, Matt Logue (6-9, 3 TFL), 2004

Cal Poly

Rushing (1980-pres.)
246, Mike Allshouse (37 att., 4 TD), 1996
168, Deionte Williams (22 att., 0 TD), 2012
168, Joe Protheroe (25 att., 2 TD), 2016

Passing (1984-pres.)
483, Sam Huard (37-58, 2 INT, 2 TD), 2023
410, David Lafferty (16-37, 0 INT, 2 TD), 1991
406, Mike Fisher (25-51, 3 INT, 4 TD), 1993
400, Mike Fisher (19-30, 4 INT, 3 TD), 1995

Receiving (1984-pres.)
334, Chris Thomas (9 rec., 3 TD), 1991
254, Kamil Loud (8 rec., 3 TD), 1995
216, Adam Herzing (6 rec., 2 TD), 2001

Tackles (1984-pres.)
19, Nick Dzubnar (5-14, TFL, INT), 2014
16, Gallo (10-6, 2 TFL, 2 PBU), 1986
15, Jordan Beck (11-4, 4 TFL), 2003