Cal State Fullerton Notebook / Robyn Norwood : Pringle Is a True Money Player

Mike Pringle had the winning numbers Saturday, including the one on the back of his jersey.

Pringle’s 213 all-purpose yards in Cal State Fullerton’s 34-20 victory over Nevada Las Vegas boosted him back to first in the nation in all-purpose yardage, even though his average dropped five yards to 234.8.

But his numbers really came up later on--in the California Lottery.

Pringle said he bought two Lotto 6/49 tickets after the game and picked his two regular sets of numbers, just as he does every Wednesday and Saturday. Five of six came up on one ticket, and Pringle won $3,616. Three came up on the other ticket, and he won five more dollars.

Pringle’s numbers:

2--The jersey number of Washington State receiver Tim Stallworth, a friend of Pringle’s.

15--Chosen in memory of his best friend’s brother, Tracy Anderson, who died last year. Anderson wore number 51 as a Cal State Northridge football player.

27--This one is simple. “Me,” Pringle said.

28--The number worn by Chris Richards, a friend of Pringle’s who played at Cal from 1986-88.

31--The number of Washington State running back Steve Broussard, another friend.

34--Pringle’s number at Kennedy High School in Granada Hills and for two seasons at Washington State before he transferred. This was the one number, excluding the bonus, that didn’t come up. The number that did was 35.

One of Pringle’s other good numbers: 118. That is his rushing average, the best in the Big West Conference and the 10th best in the country among Division I players.

More numbers: Quarterback Dan Speltz’s 297-yard, four-touchdown performance against UNLV earned him Big West Conference offensive player of the week honors, which he shared with Pacific freshman Troy Kopp, formerly of Mission Viejo High. Kopp passed for 320 yards and two touchdowns, and rushed for 40 yards in a victory over Cal State Long Beach.

Speltz threw more touchdown passes than any Titan since 1971, when Mike Ernst threw five in a game during Fullerton’s second season of intercollegiate football.

Speltz has struggled some, throwing nine interceptions in the first three games. But he hasn’t thrown any in the past two games.

He has emerged as the leader in passing efficiency in the Big West statistics, completing 102 of 151 passes for 1,227 yards and 10 touchdowns. San Jose State’s Matt Veatch is rated second.

Speltz is second to Veatch in total offense.

The volleyball team, hoping to avoid a repeat of last season’s 0-18 record in conference play, is winless after three conference matches. There’s hope yet: two of the losses were to Hawaii, ranked No. 1 in the country.

YARDAGE LEADERS

The running backs who lead the NCAA in all-purpose yardage, which includes rushing, receiving, punt and kickoff returns.

Player School Rush Rec Ret Total Avg Mike Pringle CS Fullerton 590 118 466 1174 234.80 Sheldon Canley San Jose State 281 66 291 638 212.67 Chuck Weatherspoon Houston 280 71 221 572 190.67 Darrin Wagner SDSU 373 106 274 753 188.25 Anthony Thompson Indiana 394 35 115 544 181.33 Andrew Greer Ohio 391 76 373 840 168.00 Terance Mathis New Mexico 23 494 286 803 160.60 Marcus Wilson Virginia 503 80 214 797 159.40 Blaise Bryant Iowa State 562 72 0 634 158.50 Emmanuel Hazard Houston 0 456 0 456 152.00