Titans Face a High-Caliber Foe : Football: Cal State Fullerton’s not too crazy about opening Big West play against Fresno State, the conference favorite.

Fresno State Coach Jim Sweeney likens Cal State Fullerton’s offensive style to someone spinning the chambers of a partially loaded revolver and pulling the trigger.

“They have misses, but when they hit, they get a big bang,” Sweeney said. “They’re always working on the big play.”

The Titans have had limited success with their big-bang theory, but they don’t have the kinds of weapons Fresno State will bring into tonight’s Big West Conference game against Fullerton.

The two-time, defending conference champions have one of the nation’s top tailbacks in Aaron Craver, a 6-foot, 215-pound senior who has rushed for 443 yards in 112 carries and scored seven touchdowns.

If the Titans key on Craver, sophomore fullback Lorenzo Neal (243 yards and five touchdowns in 44 carries) might hurt them.

If they concentrate on the running game, junior quarterback Mark Barsotti, who has completed 76 of 133 passes for 1,090 yards and two touchdowns, could burn them. Double-team the wide receivers and Barsotti will pass to Craver and Neal out of the backfield.

And if they think they’ve done a decent job slowing the running and passing games, Barsotti will run the option or keep the ball on a bootleg play.

“They’re going to move the football; we’ll just try to mix our defenses and contain them,” Fullerton Coach Gene Murphy said. “We can’t give up big plays. It has to take time for them to score.”

The Titans won’t concentrate on a specific phase of the Bulldog offense, especially Craver.

“To key on Craver is to commit hari-kari ,” Murphy said. “They’ll play-action and bootleg with the quarterback. One of their receivers has great speed, another has great hands.”

It doesn’t sound as if Murphy is looking forward to tonight’s game.

After three long trips and losses to Auburn, Mississippi State and Akron, Murphy doesn’t relish the idea of another away game. And he’s not crazy about opening Big West play against the conference favorite and the nation’s 24th-ranked team.

But the Titans usually play well at Fresno, and after last week’s emotionally draining, 48-17 loss to Akron--in which the Titans blew a 10-0 first-quarter lead--Murphy believes a conference game should inspire his players.

“We’ve always played pretty hard up there,” said Murphy, who will be making his ninth trip to Fresno since 1980. “It’s an exciting place to play.”

For most Fresno opponents, it’s an exciting place to lose. The Bulldogs are 36-1-1 in their past 38 home games, losing to San Jose State in 1987 and tying Hawaii in 1985. Since Bulldog Stadium opened in 1980, Fresno State is 54-10-1 at home with two of the losses coming to Fullerton.

The game will be a homecoming of sorts for Titan quarterback Paul Schulte, who played at nearby Woodlake High School. But the senior is not likely to get a warm greeting from the Bulldog defense, which ranks sixth in the nation in scoring defense (37 points in four games) and 21st in total defense (272.5 yards per game).

Fresno State has a solid secondary led by safeties Marquez Pope and Mark Adams, an outstanding linebacking corps led by Erick Tanuvasa and Jeff Thiesen, and a strong line led by Nick Ruggeroli and Zack Rix.

“The defense is playing about as well as it can play,” Sweeney said.

If the Bulldogs have a weakness, it’s on the offensive line where two redshirt freshmen and two sophomores start.

“I feel we’re a little tentative in the offensive line, we’re not blocking like we will when we get more mature,” Sweeney said. “Hopefully, our best games are ahead of us.”

Murphy hopes the same for his team. After playing well in losses to Auburn and Mississippi State, the Titans flopped in Akron, where they turned the ball over eight times, including a blocked punt and a fumble on a kickoff return.

“We have to get back to where we’re not turning the ball over,” Murphy said. “And our special teams have to improve lightyears over what they showed last week.”

Titan Notes

The Fullerton defensive backfield, ineffective because of a lack of speed and experience, should receive a big boost tonight with the return of free safety Terry Tramble and rover Michael Jones. Tramble, a first team all-conference selection in 1989, has missed two games because of a broken forearm, and Jones has missed three games because of a broken finger. Titan Coach Gene Murphy said neither would start, but both should see considerable action. Tramble will play with a protective cast on his left arm. “It’s huge,” Murphy said of the cast. “He’s going to get a hernia dragging that thing around.” . . . Two other Fullerton starters, receiver Kerry Reed and offensive tackle Mike Simmons, will return tonight. Reed has missed three games because of damaged knee ligaments, and Simmons missed last week’s game because of a sprained ankle. . . . Offensive lineman Jim DiFilippo, who injured his knee and shoulder last week, didn’t make the trip to Fresno. . . . Murphy has been known to use gadget plays against better teams and he hinted that he might try a few tonight. “They’re always in our repertoire,” Murphy said. “It depends on where the moon is and which way the wind is blowing.” . . . Bulldog Coach Jim Sweeney said an undefeated season is always his No. 1 goal, but Fresno State has a realistic chance of going unbeaten this season. The Bulldogs don’t have a strong nonconference schedule. They’ve already beaten Eastern Michigan, New Mexico and Utah and have one more nonconference game against Northern Illinois. The only Big West team expected to challenge them is San Jose State. The Bulldogs play the Spartans in the regular-season finale Nov. 17. “When we win eight games, we have a lot of people here who are unhappy,” Sweeney said. “They want to come to those tailgate parties and not have us ruin them. The expectation level is high, but the appreciation level is high, too.”