Northridge Next on Utah St. Plate

The Cal State Northridge football team will enter Romney Stadium tonight with 20,000 fans and most of Utah State’s team looking at the Matadors the way a lion looks at a piece of meat.

Never mind a victory. The Matadors will be lucky to escape with their health.

Coach Dave Baldwin knew Utah State would be a challenge for his team, but even he had to swallow hard last Saturday when he saw that the Aggies upset Utah, one of the top teams in the Western Athletic Conference, 20-17.

“They beat them on special teams, on offense and on defense and that’s the scary thing,” Baldwin said. “I knew they were going to be good, but I didn’t think they would be that good this quick.”

The challenge for Northridge in the opener, which starts at 6:05 p.m. PDT is to not get embarrassed.

“I never tell a team that they can’t win and I’m certainly not telling this team,” Baldwin said. “But they all realize it’s a Division I-A team with 85 scholarships.”

Northridge has 40 scholarships and, their coach hopes, an improved attitude.

“I’m looking for character that we didn’t show last year,” Baldwin said. “There were teams that we were intimidated by and afraid to play.

“If they are physically better than us and beat us, that’s OK. But I’m looking for character to stay in there and compete and play to our level, whatever that level may be.”

This may become a familiar refrain for the Matadors. Northridge has superior talent to its 2-8 team of last year, but its schedule is also much tougher.

Besides Utah State and New Mexico State, Division I opponents from the Big West Conference, the Matadors will play four Big Sky Conference teams ranked in the preseason I-AA top 25.

However, Northridge might never be more overmatched than it will be today, against a superior team that also has the advantage of having already played a game.

Utah State’s strong running game, led by Abu Wilson, who ran for 144 yards against Utah, will attack the weakest link of the Northridge defense.

The Matadors are better suited to stop the pass than run because their defense relies on speed more than size.

Baldwin will pack eight players on the line of scrimmage to stop Wilson and cross his fingers that the Aggies don’t pass the football over them.

“The unfortunate thing is they can get big plays,” Baldwin said. “But if they don’t, boy, we are right in there.”

Northridge linebacker Marc Goodson, one of the keys to stopping Wilson, is confident the Matadors will play well.

“We’ve got everything to gain,” he said. “No one’s expecting us to win. The only thing we can do is come out and surprise everybody.

“I like being the underdog.”

He’s with the right team.

Matador Notes

Northridge games will be broadcast on KWNK (670 AM) with Scott Galetti doing the play by play and Ron Foster handling color commentary. . . . Receivers David Romines and Tim Hilton practiced sparingly this week because they have pulled hamstrings. Both are expected to play. . . . Only nine of the Matadors’ offensive and defensive starters, including the kickers, were on the team last season. . . . Utah State quarterback Patrick Mullins, who was knocked out of the Utah game in the third quarter with of an ankle sprain, is expected to play. . . . Caleb Smith, a defensive lineman from Antelope Valley High, is second on the Aggie depth chart. “He’s getting nothing but better,” Utah State Coach John L. Smith said. “Another year of getting bigger and stronger is going to help him a bunch. He’s going to be a good football player.”