CSUN’s Kyman Might Play Greater Role

Cal State Northridge backup quarterback Coley Kyman is expected to play more than a mop-up role tonight when the Matadors (4-5) meet Cal State Sacramento in their season finale at North Campus Stadium.

Kyman has appeared in six games, all after the outcome has been decided, including two plays in the waning seconds of a 35-10 loss last Saturday to Portland State.

Like many reserves, he has not enjoyed his role.

“I’m unhappy sitting on the bench,” he said. “I’m a competitor. It’s tough when the guy in front of you is not playing exceptionally well. I’ve shown I can move the ball.”

But starting quarterback Marty Fisher reads defenses better, according to Coach Bob Burt.

“Coley, for all his ability, still is questionable on some decisions,” Burt said. “If he was heads and tails above Marty Fisher it would be a different, but he’s not.”

Fisher, a 6-foot-3, 195-pound senior, has completed 113 of 247 passes for 1,313 yards and nine touchdowns. He has thrown 11 interceptions.

Kyman, a 6-6, 210-pound junior, has passed for 257 yards, completing 20 of 45, with one touchdown and three interceptions.

Frustrated by his lack of playing time and eager to begin preparation for his final collegiate volleyball season, Kyman nearly quit the team earlier this season. A few weeks later, third-string quarterback Damone Scott, who threw for 500 yards in a backup role last season, did quit, leaving Kyman as the only backup.

Quarterbacks coach Dale Bunn, who describes Kyman as a “raw Johnny Unitas,” promised Kyman that he will play extensively tonight.

Bunn added that Kyman’s starting opportunity will come next season, but Kyman might not be around. A two-time All-American volleyball player, Kyman might try out for the U.S. national team next spring.

SWAN SONG

For 24 Northridge seniors, including 12 starters, tonight will mark their last college football game. It promises to be an emotional evening, particularly for strong safety Eric Treibatch, the Matadors’ all-time tackling leader who has been in the program six years (by virtue of a rare second redshirt season), and Fisher, a fifth-year senior who waited three seasons for his chance to start.

Eight other Northridge players also could be playing in their last game, depending on an NCAA ruling at its annual convention in January. The eight include sack leader Angel Chavez and Saadite Green, the team’s leader in receiving yardage.

Under Division II rules, the eight players are eligible for a final season in 1993. But because the Matadors are making an NCAA-mandated move to the I-AA ranks in football next fall, the group could be subject to Division I rules and thus be ineligible.

Unlike Division II, in which student-athletes are eligible as long as they have not been enrolled full time for more than 10 semesters, Division I rules require student-athletes to complete four years of athletic eligibility in a uninterrupted five-year period.

If the NCAA deems, as is expected, that eligibility is determined by the rules of the division the university belonged to when a player enrolled, the eight players will be eligible next fall.

DECISION TIME

The presidents of Northridge, CS Sacramento, Southern Utah, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, UC Davis, St. Mary’s and Santa Clara are expected to meet Monday in Los Angeles in another attempt to cement an agreement for a Division I-AA football-only conference.

In their last meeting, university leaders could not agree on scholarship limits and the size of full-time coaching staffs. Moreover, the composition of the conference is in doubt. CS Fullerton, CS Long Beach and Northern Arizona have expressed interest in joining the conference. Consequently, the schedule for the 1993 season has been on hold since January when the parties began meeting.

At this point, Northridge Athletic Director Bob Hiegert simply would like to complete the Matadors’ schedule. Contracts have not been signed, but Hiegert has set up tentative nonconference games against San Diego State and Northern Arizona.

The combined guarantees from those games would nearly double the $45,000 Northridge received from playing Division I CS Fullerton, I-AA Idaho and Central Oklahoma this season.

ON WAITING LIST

Four of the nation’s top men’s volleyball teams will meet for a preseason test Nov. 22 at Northridge.

UCLA, USC, Cal State Long Beach and Northridge will debut in what is being called the Fall Tournament of Champions.

The choice of the name for the event is interesting. No problem with UCLA. The Bruins are synonymous with men’s volleyball championships, having won 13 NCAA titles. USC, the 1990 champion, and Long Beach, winner of the NCAA tournament in 1991, also have legitimacy.

But the Matadors?

“Well, when we win this tournament,” Northridge Coach John Price said, “that will give us a championship.”

MOVE OVER, DEION

More than a dozen baseball players showed up for an open tryout at Matador Field last Saturday, and Coach Bill Kernen said the Northridge team netted a prospect who will be invited to try out in January.

He is James Woods, a CSUN freshman from San Fernando High who was redshirted this season for football and is expected to start next season at defensive back.

Woods, an outfielder, barely hit .200 for the San Fernando baseball team last season, but his combination of size (6-1, 190), speed and strength caught the eye of at least one professional scout.

The Florida Marlins made Woods the final choice of June’s amateur draft. Instead of signing, he accepted a partial football scholarship to Northridge.

David Coulson and staff writers Mike Hiserman, Theresa Munoz and John Ortega contributed to this notebook.