Resilient Matadors Eye the Future

A football season that stemmed from turmoil yet still held promise has been reduced to a matter of pride for Cal State Northridge.

The Matadors, in contention much of the season under interim Coach Jeff Kearin, dropped from the Big Sky Conference title race last week with a 34-21 loss at Portland State.

Today’s nonconference game against Southern Methodist is still intriguing if not overly important.

The meeting is the first between Northridge (5-4) and the Mustangs (2-5), a member of the Western Athletic Conference playing its final home game in the Cotton Bowl. SMU will move to a new on-campus stadium next season.

For Division I-AA Northridge, a program striving for growth, it’s the second game this season against a I-A opponent, a matchup that will earn the Matadors $125,000. Northridge soothed the pain of a 71-14 loss at Kansas in September with a school-record $200,000 payoff.

Northridge announced this week it will open next season against Air Force at Colorado Springs in another moneymaker for its athletic program.

Athletic Director Dick Dull continues to seek matchups with larger schools that will earn Northridge revenue and, perhaps, prestige.

Suddenly, next season seems just around the corner. Especially, for Kearin.

Kearin, hired in August as an 11th-hour replacement after the firing of former coach Ron Ponciano, is eager to put his stamp on the program--not that he hasn’t already made an impression.

Three months removed from the fallout of an internal investigation that led to Ponciano’s firing and the forced resignation of top assistant Rob Phenicie, turmoil seems a distant memory for the Matadors.

Kearin, a former assistant to Ponciano, can look clearly to the future and take pride in the team’s showing.

“When we cleaned up all the mistakes, we started to win,” Kearin said.

Northridge, tabbed to finish eighth by Big Sky coaches in a preseason poll, has made a respectable showing. So has Kearin.

“I stand by my record,” Kearin said with a smile.

Kearin said he intends to apply for the job on a permanent basis after the season. He said the same after being hired in August. His contract expires in December and Kearin said he would like a multiyear contract.

“This is the job I want,” Kearin said. “This is where I want to be.”

Given the late start, Kearin never really had a chance to prepare for the season, yet the Matadors were in contention for the Big Sky title until last week’s loss. A Northridge assistant for four years, Kearin left after last season to become an assistant to John Robinson at Nevada Las Vegas.

With strong ties at Northridge, Kearin was hired by Dull in August.

Dull said the search for a coach will be widespread. He declined to speculate on candidates, but it is no secret that Dull and many others are pleased with Kearin.

“I want to stay here,” Kearin said. “I want to be the guy.”