This Year, Fullerton Tries to Keep Guard Up for Northridge

This week, a lesson in comparison and contrast at Cal State Fullerton.

Last year’s Week 2 opponent: West Virginia.

This year’s: Cal State Northridge.

They do use the same football. Shall we turn to contrasts?

The Titans, the team that would in recent years go anywhere and play anyone for a guarantee check, have turned the tables. This time, it’s Northridge, a Division II team that has been lured into the stadium of a team that plays on a higher level.

Unable to find a big-guarantee game that fit the Titans’ needs this season, Athletic Director Ed Carroll turned to Northridge to fill a home date, fulfilling a Fullerton guideline that calls for at least four home games a season.

The game at Santa Ana Stadium today (1 p.m.) will mark the first time in seven years that the Titans have played a Division II team. The last was Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in 1982, a 14-10 Fullerton victory.

Titan Coach Gene Murphy, who will be going against a former assistant in Northridge Coach Bob Burt, has been admonishing his players not to take this game lightly.

You can hear the echoes of his cautions in the players’ words.

“They have good athletes,” said running back Mike Pringle. “They’re going to come after us. This is a game we have to play, and we’re going to.”

To Murphy, the issue is not the Roman numeral of a team’s division, but the caliber of the team on the field.

“What every coach wants is an opportunity to be competitive against the opponent,” Murphy said. “We will be competitive with Northridge. And they will be competitive with us, and they know it.

“If we were higher in the hierarchy of Division I, it would be something else,” Murphy said.

As it is, the Titans will meet a good Division II team, one that trailed Cal State Long Beach only 7-3 in the fourth quarter last week before losing, 28-9.

“I told the team . . . (we) are Division I-A, but if they think they are better than anybody, they could be mistaken,” Murphy said. “We’re not awesome enough to look past anybody.”

Fullerton will be trying to get its first victory of the season against Northridge and will try to establish a running game in the process.

Last week, Fullerton had 309 yards of offense in a 26-17 loss to Northern Illinois--and 304 of those yards were passing.

Pringle, who averaged 4.7 yards per carry last season, had 14 yards on 10 carries. No other Fullerton player had positive yardage.

“We’re capable of running the ball, and we will run the ball,” Pringle said. “I have a lot of confidence in my offensive line. I think the line takes it to heart that we didn’t have success. I know I take it to heart.”

Titan Notes

Free safety Mike Schaffel, who suffered a concussion in the first quarter of last week’s game, only walked through practices this week but will play today. With Schaffel out, the Fullerton secondary was significantly weakened. “It’s good to get Schaffel back,” Cal State Fullerton Coach Gene Murphy said. . . . Second-year freshman Mike Kent from Esperanza High School will start at tight end, replacing Bill Brennan, who suffered a hip pointer in last week’s game and is questionable for today. . . . Cal State Northridge Coach Bob Burt was the defensive coordinator under Murphy 1980-85. “We’ll probably stand out at midfield before the game and talk about everything but football,” Burt said. . . . Albert Fann, a 6-foot-2, 215-pound tailback, ran for 110 yards for Northridge last week and Quarterback Paul Oates completed 19 of 27 passes for 296 yards. . . . Tom Berry, a junior who went to Cypress High School and Mt. San Antonio College, starts on the defensive line for Northridge. Preston Hayslette, a senior linebacker from Marina High School, is a starter and a captain. . . . A taped interview with Augie Garrido, the former Cal State Fullerton baseball coach now at Illinois, will be aired at halftime of the KMNY broadcast.