Fun Returns in CS Northridge’s Finale : College football: Razo comes off the bench to rally Matadors, but Thunderbirds pull out 20-17 victory.

Fun returned to Cal State Northridge football, albeit too little of it, too late.

Trailing by 17 points early in their American West Conference game against Southern Utah on Saturday night, the Matadors let their punter run the show.

Had he done so any earlier, Coach Bob Burt might not have finished with the second losing record in his eight-year tenure at Northridge.

Southern Utah hung on to defeat the Matadors, 20-17, at North Campus Stadium, but not before Albert Razo, a fifth-year senior making his debut at quarterback, awoke a comatose gathering of 2,417.

Razo, forced to scramble almost every time he faded to pass, almost snatched an unlikely victory for the Matadors, who finished 4-6, 1-3 in conference play.

As it was, a rare fumble by tailback Robert Trice helped the Thunderbirds improve to 2-7-1 and stay in the hunt for a conference championship.

Southern Utah is 2-1 in conference play and can earn a share of the AWC championship by beating Cal State Sacramento this week.

“It’s something I always dreamed of doing,” Razo said. “I’d much rather have a W, but you don’t always get what you ask for. At least I got a chance to display my talents.”

Razo passed for 118 yards, completing six of 19 attempts, which included several spikes to stop the clock. He scrambled for 38 yards but suffered 33 yards in losses.

Trice’s fumble came at a most inopportune time for the Matadors, who rallied behind Razo to force a 17-17 tie.

With 14 minutes 6 seconds left in the game, he lost control of the ball at Northridge’s 12-yard line and linebacker Jeff Galyaan recovered for the Thunderbirds.

Two minutes later, Cory Beynon provided Southern Utah with the victory on a 23-yard field goal.

Turnovers set up or directly accounted for the Thunderbirds’ two field goals and a touchdown.

Joe Straw put Southern Utah up, 7-0, when he stepped in front of Clayton Millis’ pass at the Thunderbird 48 and raced down the left sideline all the way to the end zone.

A three-yard run by Joe Dodgson with 8:51 left in the second quarter put Southern Utah up by two touchdowns and the Thunderbirds added a field goal after Northridge botched the long snap on a punt.

Instead of delivering the ball to Razo, long snapper Trevor Watters ricocheted the ball off the shoulder of blocking back Travis Hall. Razo picked it up but was tackled at the Northridge 18.

Three plays later, Beynon split the uprights from 32 yards.

Enter, at long last, a new Matador quarterback, replacing Millis.

Given an opportunity with 6:50 left in the half, Razo, improvising like a seasoned veteran, hit the ground running.

On his second play, he scrambled for a 22-yard gain. On his second pass, he connected with Duc Ngo for a 14-yard gain.

A 13-yard run by Trice and another 14-yarder from Razo to Ngo put the ball at the one, from where Mark Harper scored the Matadors’ first touchdown.

Matt Ornelaz made a 31-yard field goal with five seconds to go in the half to cut Southern Utah’s advantage to a touchdown.

Northridge made up that difference midway through the third quarter when Trice took a pitch to the left and raced 77 yards for a touchdown. Trice finished with 157 yards in 24 carries.