The expression says, don’t judge a book by its cover.

When Sacramento State takes the field this Saturday for homecoming, it hosts Weber State University, a team that has not won a game since 2011.

Although they have a winless record, the Wildcats have traveled a tough road. Weber State lost to FBS schools Fresno State and BYU and also FCS nationally ranked Eastern Washington, McNeese State and Cal Poly.

“We will be playing the best 0-6 team in the nation,” said Hornet running back A.J. Ellis. “They play hard, they play physical and they have had a real tough schedule so we know they are going to come in and play us tough.”

The Wildcats feature 14 returning starters from last season’s team. Senior quarterback Mike Hoke comes off an All-Big Sky Conference season throwing 19 touchdown passes and only four interceptions. This season however, Hoke has struggled, throwing seven interceptions and has been sacked 23 times.

Weber State head coach Jody Sears said struggles have been affected by this year’s offensive line, which is much younger than in years past.

“We replaced three (offensive linemen) with first year and second year guys,” Sears said. “You are going to have to take some lumps a little bit, but the kids are getting better.”

Although Weber State has struggled on both offense and defense as they rank last and second to last respectively, in 2011 the Wildcats defeated the Hornets, 49-17 in Ogden, Utah. Sac State head coach Marshall Sperbeck said no team in the Big Sky can be taken lightly.

“It is just a matter of time before they get things in the right direction,” Sperbeck said. “We certainly hope it is not this weekend.”

While this Saturday might be just another conference game, tight end T.J. Knowles and the other 12 seniors will have their last homecoming at Sac State.

“It’s definitely something special,” Knowles said. “This is it. You want to go out there and give it to the crowd. This will be the last homecoming you go out there with your family and your teammates.”

Looking ahead, Sac State knows it has a hill to climb as it will face three straight nationally ranked opponents in Eastern Washington, Cal Poly and Montana State, but Sperbeck said you have to play one game at a time.

“We just have to play football and take care of our business,” Sperbeck said. “We are not looking ahead, we are just looking at this game.”

Kickoff will be at 6:05 p.m. at Hornet Stadium, but coming festivities will start at 3 p.m. with a pre-game tailgate festival.

Ryan Kuhn can be reached at @rskuhn