CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK : Kicker Takes Aim at Old Team

The surroundings will be familiar for Cal State Northridge kicker Dan Eastman when the Matadors take on Cal Poly San Luis Obispo tonight at 7 at Mustang Stadium.

Eastman kicked for the Mustangs in 1988 and set school single-season records for field goals (13) and extra points (25).

After leaving the school for personal reasons, he did not attend college in 1989 and 1990. Determined to complete his college education and use his final year of athletic eligibility, Eastman enrolled at Northridge in August.

“I knew a couple of the coaches here,” he said. “And I knew what a good program it is. I wanted to be a part of it.”

Eastman might have hooked up with the Northridge program earlier, but the Matadors already had kicker Abo Velasco when Eastman was coming out of Moorpark College in the spring of 1988.

Although the San Luis Obispo game will be emotional for him, Eastman is trying to prevent it from becoming more important than any other game.

His teammates, who were denied the outright Western Football Conference title and a second-round berth in the NCAA Division II playoffs by virtue of two losses last season to San Luis Obispo, are trying to show similar restraint.

“We are trying not to emphasize the revenge factor too much,” said Eastman, who has made five of 12 field-goal attempts and nine of 11 extra-point attempts.

At the beginning of the season, Eastman was teased for being a former member of the rival Mustangs. Once he explained that he didn’t play for San Luis Obispo in 1990 (or 1989 for that matter) his teammates stopped the ribbing.

“They don’t consider me a transfer from Cal Poly and I don’t consider myself a transfer from Cal Poly,” Eastman said. “I’m with this team and I care about these guys.”

In Northridge’s 45-27 win over Santa Clara last week, Eastman kicked a 29-yard field goal and a season-high six extra points. He also missed field goals from 34, 42 and 45 yards.

“Maybe I reverted to a few bad habits,” Eastman said. “I am concentrating on correcting those.”

When Northridge and San Luis Obispo shared the Western Football Conference championship last season, neither team received championship rings.

“I want that ring,” said Alo Sila, a defensive tackle for the Matadors. “We made a lot of mental mistakes last year against them. On a one-on-one basis, I think we were better than them last year and I think that is the case this year.”

Northridge lost to San Luis Obispo, 6-3, at North Campus Stadium in a game that resulted in a conference co-championship. Two weeks later, the Mustangs knocked the Matadors out of the playoffs, 14-7, at San Luis Obispo.

Art Espino is light for an offensive tackle but not as light as the 225 pounds listed on the Northridge roster--a fact he pointed out after Tuesday’s practice.

Espino claimed his actual weight is 255 pounds, and George Fua, another lineman, noted that he weighs 260 pounds, not the 240 listed on the roster. Overhearing the pair, Sila joined in, claiming to be 6-foot-4.

Sila’s laugh was not the only thing that gave him away. The 6-1 statistic on the roster is generous enough.

Coach Bob Burt did not consider giving up on Bill Harris after the tailback fumbled on the Matadors’ first two possessions against Santa Clara.

“I told him to take a rest, keep his head up and we’ll put him back in and allow him to do his thing,” Burt said.

“Those first two fumbles took a little fire out of our guys, but Paul Peters ignited the fire back into them,” Burt said of Peters’ 96-yard punt return. “Sometimes things like that happen. You need something like that to get it going. When you fumble two times, your frame of mind changes. We needed to change the frame of mind again and Paul did that for us.”

Harris finished with a season-high 123 yards in 22 carries after the miscues.

With 1 1/2 sacks against Santa Clara, reserve defensive tackle Ron McKinney moved into the team lead with 4 1/2 sacks for minus-25 yards. Senior outside linebacker Doug Bledsoe is second on the sack squad with three.

Inside linebacker Ken Vaughn had 14 tackles against Santa Clara and leads the Matadors in tackles with 83.