After toppling a nationally ranked Football Bowl Subdivision team at home, Sacramento State enters its final stretch of the season seeing a long-sought goal within reach.
A winning record.
Thanks to a 27-24 upset of then 21st-ranked Northern Arizona last Saturday, the Hornets enter today's 11:05 a.m. Big Sky Conference contest at Northern Colorado with a chance for a 6-5 finish.
Sac State (3-5, 3-3) can post its first winning season since 2000 by beating the Bears, winning at Montana State and then defeating UC Davis at home.
While Hornets head coach Marshall Sperbeck keeps his focus on one opponent at a time, his players see the chance to do something that hasn't been done for nine years.
"Being around Sac State, we haven't had a winning record for awhile," sophomore center John Taylor said. "If we win out, Sac State has a winning record.
"It's right there. We have pretty tough opponents left. We have to come out strong."
The Hornets did that last Saturday, beating a ranked opponent for the first time since 2004.
"It just gives us momentum coming into the next three games," junior defensive tackle Christian Clark said. "We're looking forward to it.
"I was joking with coach last week, telling him (6-5) isn't bad. He kind of had to stop me. We have to take it one game at a time."
Sac State is 3-0 against Northern Colorado. The Hornets' last trip to Greeley produced a wild 20-17 victory over the Bears on a Hail Mary pass as time expired.
"I'm sure they haven't (forgotten)," Sperbeck said. "We were very fortunate to win up there last time. We're going to have our work cut out for us."
Sperbeck said the NAU victory gave his team a much-needed boost.
"It was a great win, and our kids certainly deserved it," he said. "You've got to get yourself up and go do it again.
"You look at Northern Colorado's schedule, they've played everybody tough."
The Bears (3-6, 1-5), have lost close conference games to Northern Arizona (35-27), Portland State (23-18) and Weber State (28-20). They've also lost to Kansas (49-3), Eastern Washington (16-0) and Montana State (25-7).
Northern Colorado has beaten San Diego (31-12), Idaho State (30-7) and South Dakota (21-17), giving head coach Scott Downing signs of progress after 1-10, 1-11 and 1-10 records in his first three seasons with the Bears.
But Sperbeck hopes his team is the one taking a step forward today.
"We've just got to show up and play a good football game," he said. "Hopefully things come out in our favor."
Call The Bee's John Schumacher, (916) 326-5523.
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