SDSU Notebook : If Hewitt Can’t Play, Slack Likely to Start

The San Diego State football team’s injury list remains extensive, but Coach Denny Stolz is optimistic that he will have the majority of his healing players ready to play Saturday against Stanford at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

Primary on the list is tailback Paul Hewitt, the team’s leading rusher. Hewitt on Thursday had his most extensive practice since he bruised his left shoulder against Texas El Paso last Saturday. Hewitt is listed as questionable by trainer Don Kaverman.

Stolz is not ready to say whether Hewitt will start. If Hewitt is unable to, the assignment probably will go to Ron Slack, a sophomore from Pasadena.

Tommy Booker, second-team tailback, will not play because of a sprained ankle. Listed as doubtful is wide receiver Patrick Rowe (sprained ankle).

Players nursing injuries who should be available to play, according to Kaverman, are: defensive lineman Mike Hooper (turf toe), and linebackers Kevin Conard (neck strain) and Derek Santifer (stomach muscle strain).

Randy Peterson, second-team wide receiver, underwent arthroscopic surgery Thursday to repair cartilage damage on his right knee. Kaverman said Peterson could return to game action in four weeks.

Basketball practice opened Thursday, and Coach Jim Brandenburg, in his first year at SDSU, ran the Aztecs through a three-hour workout.

“Everything is so new to them,” Brandenburg said. “We had to take a lot of time out for instruction.

“We start, then we stop, then we start. We did a lot of that, and we will for a while.”

Thirteen players participated in the workout. Shawn Bell, a Morse High School graduate who is not eligible to play this season after transferring from Chicago State, will not practice with the team until the second semester because of academic reasons, Brandenburg said.

Aztec Notes A hearing scheduled Thursday in San Diego Municipal Court for San Diego State basketball player Gerald Murray has been postponed until Oct. 28, his lawyer said. The hearing was set in connection with Murray’s arrest Jan. 2 for solicitation of a lewd act and several unrelated traffic violations. Murray’s lawyer, Ronald M. Frant of San Diego, said he requested the delay to allow him more time to prepare the case.