1. Familiar Foes
As expected with schools separated by just 180 miles, there are numerous connections between Sacramento State and Fresno State. The Hornet roster features four players (
Miles Bailey, Isiah Chala,
Tim Thomas and
Carson Conklin) who previously played at Fresno State. Conversely, the Bulldogs have defensive linemen
Dylan Hampsten and Micah Mosely who played at Sacramento State last season. In all, the teams share players that have connections to 28 previous schools (high schools/JCs/four-years). Among the coaches,
Eric Kiesau and
Kenwick Thompson each previously coached at Fresno State and are now with the Hornets. The Bulldogs' defensive line coach Jordan Gigli and director of player personal Jaden Diamond are former members of the Sacramento State staff.
2. Sideline Strangers
This is the sixth time that Sacramento State and Fresno State have met in football. In each game, both teams have had a different head coach. The first meeting came in 1972 with Ray Clemons leading the Hornets and Darryl Rogers guiding the Bulldogs. The teams did not play again until 2007 when Marshall Sperbeck was the Sacramento State head coach and Pat Hill was across the field from him. In 2016, Jody Sears was at the helm for the Hornets and Tim DeRuyter was in his final season at Fresno State. Three years later in 2019, Troy Taylor was in his first season and faced off against Jeff Tedford. Most recently, in 2024, Andy Thompson piloted the Hornets and former Hornet assistant Tim Skipper was the interim head coach for the Bulldogs.
3. Back With the Pac
For the first time since defeating Stanford, 30-23, in 2023, Sacramento State will face a Pac-12 opponent. The Hornets are 3-8 all-time against the conference with wins over Oregon State (2011), Colorado (2012) and Stanford. This will also be the fourth different conference Fresno State has been in when playing against the Hornets, following stints in the PCAA, WAC and Mountain West.
4. Two Is Better Than One
Throughout training camp Sacramento State head coach
Alonzo Carter preached that he felt he had QB1 and QB1A in
Carson Conklin and
Jackson Sharman. That prediction was put to the test in the second week of the season as Conklin was sidelined and Sharman inserted into the starting lineup. Sharman responded by completing 18-of-28 passes for 247 yards and four touchdowns. His touchdown total matched the high for a Hornet QB who was making his first start with the team. The Hornets have now used multiple starting quarterbacks in the each of the last four seasons.
5. How To Follow The Action
Saturday night's game will be aired on CBS Sports Network — marking the school first appearance on the channel in program history. Chris Lewis will be the play-by-play announcer with former San Francisco 49er Randy Cross as the analyst. The game can also be heard on ESPN 1320 AM, the Audacy app and on the Sirius XM app with Jason Ross (play-by-play), Steve McElroy (analyst) and Danny Sullivan (sideline).
