The start of the Big Sky season left Sacramento State football in the same position as it has in six of the eight years the Hornets have played in the conference, with a 0-1 start.

Facing Northern Arizona (2-2, 2-0 Big Sky) Saturday night in Flagstaff, Ariz., the Hornets (1-3, 0-1) were shut out 26-0. The last time Sac State was shut out was in last season’s final home game to Montana, also by a 26-0 score.

Since joining the Big Sky in the 1996 football season, the Hornets only have two wins in conference opening contests — both coming against Idaho State. They beat the Bengals in 2001, 33-27 and last season 47-21, both games were played at Hornet Stadium. The Hornets are now 0 for 9 in road opening conference games.

The game was all but over right from the start. For the second straight game, the Hornets’ defense allowed the home team to take the opening kickoff, march down the field in their first drive and put seven points on the board. An 11-play, 80-yard drive for NAU ended with a Jason Murrietta to Kory Mahr touchdown pass.

After a Ryan Leadingham interception ended the Hornets’ initial drive for a second straight week, the Lumberjacks would take the ball off the turnover and again put it in the end zone. NAU running back Roger Robinson would get his first of two touchdowns on the night, giving NAU a 14-0 lead.

If the 7,000 feet of altitude wasn’t enough for Sac State to overcome, a 14-0 deficit on the road was. The Hornets would go into the locker room down 16-0 after NAU got a safety in the second quarter.

“With the exception of the first drive I liked the way our defense played,” head coach Steve Mooshagian said.

Sac State had a good chance of scoring before the half after Leadingham and wide receiver Fred Amey connected on a 48-yard pass play putting the Hornets inside the NAU 30. It was the longest play for Sac State during the game. The drive would end on a punt after two offensive line penalties put Sac State out of field goal range.

Amey’s second quarter catch would extend his streak of games with a reception to 35 straight games — every game he has played in at Sac State.

The second half didn’t start much better than the first. On the first play from scrimmage, Leadingham threw his second interception, leading to Robinson’s second touchdown run. The senior running back led all rushers with 142 yards and the two touchdowns. Robinson would also get 49 more yards on 8 catches.

The shutout was the first at home for the Lumberjacks since 1996. They came into the game ranked No. 20 in the country in this week’s AP Division I-AA poll.

The Hornets will be back at home this Saturday at 6:05 p.m. for their homecoming game against Portland State.

Seven of the Hornets’ last eight overall victories have been home games going back to the end of the 2000 season.