The days look seemingly gloomier as Sacramento State football prepares for its homecoming game verse the Portland State Vikings this Saturday.

Last Saturday, the Hornets traveled to Flagstaff, Ariz. to battle Northern Arizona; only to surrender a shutout to the Lumberjacks.

“We have to get the team together on the same page and to play together,” head coach Steve Mooshagian said. “We have yet to play a complete 60 minutes together.”

In order to contend this weekend, Sac State will need to create offense while stopping the run. In the shutout, the Hornets failed to produce a rushing attack, amassing a total of only seven yards.

Portland State had no problems hitting the holes, rushing for 194 yards in its loss to Eastern Washington. Junior running back Joe Rubin led the steady ground game carrying the ball 33 times for 167 yards.

Hornets’ true freshman Ryan Mole was silenced in week four, after rushing for 132 yards against UC Davis the previous week in his first collegiate start. Mole never found his rhythm against NAU, rushing for only 28 yards on 6 carries.

Mole has been taking snaps from junior running back Tyronne Gross. Gross was expected to be a large contributor to the Hornet offense this fall coming off an injury shortened season a year ago. Gross has seen little playing time after missing week 2 against Southern Utah.

The offensive debacle was due the inefficiency of the Hornet playmakers. After sitting out a week out practice with a thigh contusion, senior wide receiver Fred Amey had only two receptions for 57 yards against the Lumberjacks. After averaging near 100 yards per game for the first three weeks, freshman running back Ryan Mole gained just 28 yards in six carries.

“I’d like to get back to running the ball this week,” Mooshagian said. “We’d also like to eliminate turnovers, those two things will be at the top of the list of things I want to see improved.”

In week four, Vikings’ quarterback Joe Wiser completed 14 passes out of 23 attempts for a total of 144 passing yards and a touchdown. Leadingham posted similar numbers against Northern Arizona completing 18 passes for 199 yards, while throwing two interceptions. The seniors will duel Saturday night against similar defenses.