Titans Can Get Back to Business on Field : Football: Players, who had threatened to boycott game, play tonight at Southwestern Louisiana.

Cal State Fullerton players will attempt to get their minds back on football when the Titans play Southwestern Louisiana tonight in Lafayette, La.

The last two weeks have been marked by a series of meetings with coaches, Athletic Director Bill Shumard, university President Milton A. Gordon and other administrators, as players expressed concern over the uncertain future of the program. At one time, the Titans were considering a boycott of tonight’s game.

But the protests ended Tuesday when, given the ultimatum of playing football or losing their scholarships, the players returned to practice. They were assured, however, that their scholarships would be honored for the duration of their eligibility, no matter what happened to the program.

“They’re not happy, but they’re football players who have grown up loving the game, and the fun part of football is Saturdays,” Titan Coach Gene Murphy said. “It wasn’t fun for them last week (a 49-3 loss to San Jose State). They didn’t know where they were. But hopefully this was rectified early enough in the week where they’re heads are back into it.”

Fullerton played perhaps its worst game of the season at San Jose, losing five of six fumbles and falling behind, 42-0, by halftime. One fumble was returned for a touchdown, another led to a touchdown, and two botched punt plays led to two San Jose State touchdowns. The Titans didn’t complete one pass and increased their touchdown-less streak to four games.

Murphy hopes the return of starting quarterback Trendell Williams, who missed last week’s game because of back spasms, will boost the offense. Williams’ return allowed Murphy to move Quincy Guy, who played quarterback last week, to cornerback, where he’ll start tonight.

“Quincy is one of the best athletes on the team,” Murphy said. “Any time he’s sitting on the bench is not a smart move for us.”

Like Fullerton, Southwestern Louisiana has struggled this season, winning both of its home games but losing all four on the road. The Ragin’ Cajuns are coming off losses to Houston (63-7) and Louisiana Tech (17-7).

Southwestern Louisiana also had some turmoil of its own this week when six players, including projected starters James Freeman (quarterback), Donald Collins (cornerback) and Terrance Ross (linebacker), were suspended for tonight’s game because they violated team rules.

Freeman is the team’s second-string quarterback who was supposed to start in place of the injured Tyjuan Hayes, so now Southwestern Louisiana will likely start third-string sophomore Reggie Hayes, who has attempted only 14 passes this season.

That could hinder the productivity of Ragin Cajun senior Wayde Butler, who is one of the nation’s top receivers with 34 catches for 455 yards and two touchdowns. Southwestern Louisiana is averaging only 248.3 yards in total offense per game, while opponents have averaged 434.8 total yards.