They choose to grin, Bear it

Sac State likely will be little more than a speed bump for Cal, but at least there's $175,000 to be had.
By John Schumacher -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Friday, September 2, 2005
Story appeared in Sports section, Page C1
Ask Steve Mooshagian about opening the season against a bigger, faster and more talented opponent and Sacramento State's football coach focuses on promise, not peril. Forget the likely physical pounding, the potentially embarrassing lopsided score and the possible psychological hit on players and fans stemming from Saturday's 2 p.m. meeting with No. 19 Cal at Memorial Stadium in Berkeley.
Let's talk dollars, as in $175,000, which is how much the Hornets are guaranteed to take from Cal's coffers. When you're trying to rebuild a program - heck, rebuild anything - big chunks of cash come in handy. Let's talk publicity. Since Cal is ranked 19th in the country, the score, and Sac State's name, will be all over the land, from television networks to daily newspapers to every sports Internet site worth a Google. Let's talk recruiting. When Mooshagian sits down in a prospect's living room, he can boast the Hornets play big-time teams such as Cal, even if the score might slip his mind.
Mooshagian is happy to discuss all those positives. As he begins his third year, those 2-9 and 3-8 seasons safely in the past, this glass is half full, if not more.
"The advantage of it obviously is to gauge where our program is," said Mooshagian, a former receivers coach for the Cincinnati Bengals. "We get a chance to compete at the national level. "I don't see anything as a negative. If it was my druthers, I would like to have one game before that." When you're a Division I-AA school taking on a I-A power, though, you don't get to pick what Saturday works best for you.
Terry Wanless, Sac State's director of athletics, also sees plenty of positives in taking on the Golden Bears for the first time. "I don't think we'll beat Cal too bad," he said with a laugh. Turning serious, Wanless said Saturday's date in Berkeley helps the Hornets by association.
"It is the University of California," he said. "It's the Michigan of California, so to be associated, to have our fans be able to say with pride that Sacramento State is playing Cal, is a very important part of our whole outlook on athletics and our whole future. "Who would have thought this would ever happen? Twenty years ago, the big game was Chico State. Twenty years ago, nobody would have ever thought this university would play football against Cal. "It's part of our whole march toward excellence. It will help the football program get better, bring recognition."
Even if the Hornets are on the wrong end of a one-sided game. When you're looking for attention, sometimes any publicity is good publicity. Sac State has gone down this road before. In 2002, John Volek's last season as coach, the Hornets opened with a 42-12 loss at Texas El-Paso. Getting a taste of the big time continued under Mooshagian, who watched the Hornets start 2003 with a 40-7 loss at Oregon State and 2004 with a 59-7 whipping at Nevada. Can the Hornets, who stay on the road for games at Cal Poly on Sept. 10 and Portland State on Sept. 17, handle another pounding? Maybe they won't get one.
"We go down with the mind-set to win," senior linebacker Matt Logue said. "We play every game to win. It's going to be a tough challenge. We'll have to play an absolutely perfect game. And we all know that.
"It's a great opportunity for all the guys at a I-AA school to go down and play a I-A school, too, because we all feel like we have something to prove, that we could be playing at the bigger schools like that. "So I think it just gives everyone a bit of added motivation to go down and play harder, show Cal that we belong on the field with them." And thinking they belong might help the Hornets.
"I don't think they should be in awe," Mooshagian said. "I don't think they'll be star-struck by anyone." Mooshagian isn't. He sees possibilities, not probabilities.
"Dream big," he said. "Nothing's impossible unless you think it is."
Top 10 reasons to play Cal
10. The night life is better in Berkeley.
9. If you can't pick on someone your own size, try someone bigger.
8. Chance to save travel money by hitching rides with all those Cal fans in Sacramento.
7. Berkeley stores offer half-off sale this weekend on PAM spray.
6. Give the fans on Tightwad Hill more than their money's worth.
5. There'll be a lot of people in the stands.
4. The views from Strawberry Canyon are really cool.
3. Haven't seen any hippies on J Street, but Telegraph Avenue should provide some sightings.
2. It's time to show those UC kids the state schools are better.
1. Beating Cal gets you into Stanford, for sure.