Humboldt State University Athletics

ARCATA — Though he's been hard at work since arriving in February, the beginning of the Rob Smith era at Humboldt State takes on a more measurable form this week when his Lumberjacks open the football season at Sacramento State. A productive fall camp has Smith and his coaching staff optimistic that the Jacks can  compete well against the NCAA Division IAA Hornets. Kickoff in Hornet Stadium is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. Saturday.

Media: Jacks' supporters unable to make the trip this week can listen to the action on KATA, 1340 AM radio, the North Coast's ESPN affiliate. J.B. Mathers calls the action live from Sacramento, and will again be joined by HSU Hall-of-Famer Burt Norstrom, who adds commentary. The audio will also be streamed live on the hsujacks.com web site. …Another feature allowing fans to track the game's progress is the LiveStats component of hsujacks.com. This week's live stats will be made available through the Sacramento State web site at hornetsports.com.

Tailgate: Alumni, fans and families are invited to a special tailgate party prior to Saturday's game. The event is scheduled from 4 to 6 p.m. in Stadium Parking Lot 7 outside Hornet Stadium. Food and beverages, along with prizes and giveaways, will be featured. Head Coach Rob Smith will greet attendees.

Head-to-Head: Humboldt State holds a 20-14-2 advantage in the all-time series, dominating the Hornets during the Far West Conference era when Sac State was a Division II program. The most recent meeting between the programs was in 2002 when Sac State claimed a 42-35 decision at home.

Coaches: Rob Smith begins his HSU career this week. As head coach at Western Washington for 17 seasons, Smith's programs achieved a 109-62-1 record. …Marshall Sperbeck begins his second season guiding Sac State following a 3-8 campaign last fall. Previously, as head coach of Foothill College, he produced a 109-53 overall record and led the junior college program to 11 bowl games.

Injury Report: Keeping major injuries to a minimum during preseason workouts, the Jacks nonetheless suffered a couple of potentially serious setbacks. Defensive back Wes Montgomery, a potential starter heading into 2008, has been unable to practice because of a previous knee injury and may end up sitting out this year. Josh Fely, a freshman who was challenging for playing time on the offensive line, went down in the final scrimmage and will have an injured foot x-rayed this week.

Lumberjack Notes: Assessing the Jacks' strengths and weaknesses will be easier following this week's opener, according to Smith, who is eager to see his team line up against an opponent other than itself. "Most coaches hate scrimmages, because one area or another is bound to look bad," Smith said. "If your offense looks really strong, you're concerned about the defense, and vice versa." …Smith and his staff have identified some of the areas they've watched develop in practice, and see positive signs at several positions. For example, wide receiver, considered a thin position at the start of camp, has been bolstered by the addition of two late arrivals. Devin Stearns, a 6-2 junior transfer from College of the Canyons, and Matt Smith, a 6-5 senior who previously played at Portland State, have seen limited practice time thus far, but both have skills Smith is looking for. Further enhancing the optimism has been the play of returners Mike Streck-Woodard and Kevin Miles, and newcomers Tim Simmons and Lance Walkup.  …"Not only do we have good talent at receiver, we now have more depth," Smith said. "Like the rest of our team, (wide receiver) is still a work in progress, but it's gone from being a real concern to where it will be a real strength at some point during the season." …Leadership is also coming right along as players emerge on both sides of the ball. Defensively, linebacker Allen Brunner is a (quite worker who doesn't take plays off," and Barry Davis has also offered steadiness and stability at cornerback. Offensively, linemen Lorenzo Arenas and Taylor Boggs have stepped up into leadership roles. …Senior Garrett Hubrich is slated to start at quarterback this week after earning the berth during the first few weeks of practice. Brian Hildebrand, another senior, remains a challenger, however. "I was impressed with the way Hildebrand played," Smith said. "He brought the offense down the field to a score when he was in there with the first team, and moved the ball very well." …Defensively, Desmond Maxwell has been solid on the line, according to Smith, and the entire secondary has performed admirably as well. …Kicking duties have been assigned to University of Utah transfer Enrique Leyva, who sat out last year. Kyle Schierholt returns as punter, but Leyva may also see time in that role.

Opponent Notes: Last season, Sacramento State finished with a 3-8 overall record and a 3-5 mark in Big Sky Conference games. That record tied the team for sixth place with Portland State and ahead of Idaho State and Northern Colorado. …Sacramento State linebackers Cyrus Mulitalo and Mike Brannon were each named to The Sports Network’s Football Championship Subdivision Preseason All-America team. Mulitalo was one of four linebackers tabbed for the first team while Brannon was named to the third team. Last year, Mulitalo had 98 tackles, including 13.5 tackles-for-loss last year, while Brannon made 91 total tackles and a team-best 18.0 tackles-for-loss. … The Hornets boast more experience in the quarterback position, where Jason Smith returns for his sophomore season after starting all 11 games as a freshman. Coming in to challenge for playing time is another sophomore, McLeod Bethel-Thompson, a transfer from UCLA.

Smith Says: "I know Sacramento State is excited about the prospects for the season. They have outstanding linebackers and a lot of experience on offense. They play at a high level." … "Our players always play hard, though not always smart. We must eliminate the turnovers we saw in the final scrimmage. We're not strong enough yet to be able to overcome that many mistakes." … "Our offensive mistakes are all correctable. On defense, our No. 1 goal is to make opponents earn all that they get. We can't give up big plays."

Jacks' Roster: Online roster and downloadable version in MS Word available at http://www.hsujacks.com/roster.aspx?path=football&

Depth Chart: Current two-deeps for HSU and opponent are available for download at http://hsujacks.com/documents/2008/8/25/HSU2deep.pdf

Statistics: Following Saturday's opener and throughout the season, current HSU statistics can be viewed online at http://www.hsujacks.com/custompages/football/2008/teamstat.htm.