Standifer Makes Most of New Start

Safety Steve Standifer has spent much of his only season at Cal State Northridge in the shadows of an offense that is among the best in the country and a linebacker who has made nearly 14 tackles a game.

But while most of the headlines have gone to receiver David Romines, quarterback Aaron Flowers and linebacker Marc Goodson, Standifer enters Saturday’s season finale against Eastern Washington with a solid season behind him.

The touted transfer from Colorado State had his best game last week against Idaho State, intercepting a pass, recovering a fumble in the end zone and recording 12 tackles.

“He’s played tremendous,” Coach Dave Baldwin said. “And that’s what we expected out of him.”

Standifer, a 5-foot-11, 186-pound senior from Omaha, Neb., was state defensive back of the year in high school before going to Colorado State, where he played for three years--starting as a junior.

He had a disagreement with Rams Coach Sonny Lubick and transferred over the summer. Standifer wound up at Northridge in part because of Lubick’s son Matt, who was hired by Baldwin as secondary coach.

“I think it definitely was a good move,” Standifer said. “The [Northridge] coaches brought a lot of enthusiasm. After a 2-8 season I wasn’t really sure what to expect.”

Standifer missed much of the first three games with a hamstring injury.

“I was very disappointed in myself that I couldn’t play,” he said. “I was disappointed that I couldn’t help us win. It was bad. I’d never experienced something like that before.”

But once Standifer was healthy, he performed to Baldwin’s expectations. Standifer is third on the team with 73 tackles, having played only seven full games.

“He’s got a shot at playing at the next level,” Baldwin said. “It’s got to be with the right team in the right situation.”

On the move: The fortunes of the Cal State Northridge basketball program may be changing soon, but not because of anything done by Bobby Braswell, the new coach.

Next week, when the football staff moves its offices to two trailers at North Campus Stadium, the basketball coaches will move into the offices vacated by the football staff.

The office of John Price, men’s volleyball coach, is next to the corner office occupied by the basketball staff. Price has long maintained that the office must be cursed, because so many strange and unfortunate things have happened to that program.

“I wouldn’t move into there,” he said, half joking.

Softball Coach Janet Sherman will move into the vacated basketball office.

“I’ve warned her,” Price said.

Pro-ducing: They’re not Dallas Cowboys or San Francisco 49ers, but their coaches once were.

Players for Menlo College, Cal Lutheran’s opponent this week, apparently are benefiting from the NFL experience of former Dallas tight end Doug Cosbie and his former 49er-laden staff.

Cosbie, in his first season as football coach and athletic director at the Menlo Park school, brought in former fullback Tom Rathman and linebacker Keena Turner, who both played for the 49ers, as assistants.

Rathman is Menlo’s offensive coordinator while Turner coaches linebackers and the defensive line. Also on the staff is Craig Walsh, wide receivers coach and son of 49er coaching consultant Bill Walsh.

They took over a Menlo team that was 0-9 record last season. The Oaks (5-3) showed improvement from the start, compiling a 5-1 record before consecutive losses to Azusa Pacific and Laverne the past two weeks. Menlo will try to rebound in Saturday’s nonconference game at Cal Lutheran.

“All the coaches do a good job, and the players have been pretty receptive,” Cosbie said. “So far, we’re about where we thought we’d be.

“We had some pretty good players already here, but they weren’t motivated, they weren’t disciplined. We had to build that up.”

Cosbie anticipated nothing less than success.

“I’ve been around football a long time, so I pretty much knew what to expect as a head coach,” he said. “It’s not as difficult as a lot of people want to make it out to be.”