Cal State Long Beach to Play New Mexico State
Cal State Long Beach will try to stay in the race for the California Bowl when it plays New Mexico State in a Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. football game at 6 p.m. today at Veterans Stadium.
The 49ers are in fifth place in the PCAA but have only one loss and hope to challenge Fresno State, the league’s only undefeated team. The PCAA champion will play the champion of the Mid-American Conference in the California Bowl Dec. 14 at Fresno.
Long Beach Coach Mike Sheppard, who said the 49ers played without emotion in a 30-23 loss to Eastern Washington last week, put his players through four hard practices this week.
“We created intense situations,” Sheppard said. “We had one-on-one drills and full 11-on-11 scrimmages on two fields . . . 44 players busting heads. We’re going to play intense, starting in the first quarter.”
The 49ers have been outscored, 50-21, in the first quarter this season.
New Mexico State is 1-5 overall and 0-3 in the PCAA. Long Beach is 3-4 and 1-1.
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