Northridge Rushes Past UNLV, 24-18

A tumultuous week of protests, suspensions and a boycott of practice ended Saturday night before 10,380 in the Silver Bowl with an additional surprise for the Cal State Northridge football team.

The Matadors won, downing Nevada Las Vegas, 24-18, in a nonconference game, their first victory over an NCAA Division I-A team since 1976.

Robert Trice led Northridge’s assault on the hapless Rebels, who dropped to 1-5 amid calls for Coach Jim Strong, a former Notre Dame assistant, to resign.

Trice, a senior from Rocky Point, N.C., carried 35 times for a school- record 278 yards and three touchdowns. He is believed to be the only running back in Northridge history to rush for more than 200 yards in back-to-back games. He gained 261 yards against Division II Sonoma State two weeks ago.

Division I-AA Northridge (2-3) won without half of its usual quartet of starters in the secondary.

Junior cornerback Vincent Johnson was serving a one-game suspension for cursing Athletic Director Bob Hiegert in an on-campus meeting on Thursday. Gerald Ponder, a senior free safety, stayed behind when the team bus left on Friday to protest Johnson’s suspension.

Johnson’s verbal blast of Hiegert came two days after the athletic director warned Northridge players who missed practice or sat out games that they risked their scholarships being revoked. Nearly the entire Matador team boycotted Monday’s practice to protest the lack of a meal plan.

But that was all forgottenagainst the Rebels. Trice scored on a 53-yard run, his longest run of the game to give Northridge a 24-10 lead with 4 minutes 19 seconds remaining. The Rebels had pulled within 17-10, on a four-yard touchdown run by Omar Love.