Sacramento State football fell to Idaho State, 29-24 in Pocatello, Idaho, on Saturday afternoon.

The Hornets (2-5, 1-3 Big Sky) lost despite brilliant play from senior cornerback and co-captain Ramon Payne. Payne tied the school record with three interceptions in the game, adding two sacks and forcing two fumbles while recovering one of them. He now ranks first in the Big Sky in interceptions with five on the season.

On Monday Payne was honored with three player of the week awards, winning Defensive Player of the Week from The Sports Network, I-AA.org and the Big Sky Conference; all in addition to winning co-Hornets Defensive Player of the Week as given out by head coach Steve Mooshagian.

“Ramon had a great game,” Mooshagian said. “He has elevated his performance to an all-time high the last two weeks and he has really focused and is paying attention to all of the details of our opponent.”

In last week’s game against Weber State, Payne had a then-career-high two interceptions in the Hornets 31-12 win.

Despite Payne’s efforts this week, the Hornets allowed Idaho State (2-5, 1-3) to score 21 second-half points which turned their 10-8 halftime lead into a defeat. Sac State was unable to turn six Bengals turnovers into much of anything. The Hornets offense only put seven points on the board coming off six takeaways from their defense.

The offense opened the game strong, driving 87 yards in 12 plays on its first drive giving the Hornets a 7-0 lead on a touchdown pass from senior quarterback Ryan Leadingham to junior running back James Cummings. They were, however, unable to put points on the board after two of Payne’s takeaways.

The Hornets were led by senior wide receiver Fred Amey, who caught seven passes for 129 yards. Amey moved into 19th place all-time in Division I-AA with 3,479 career receiving yards.

A key factor in the game was the Bengals ability to stop the run and make the Hornets pass. Tyronne Gross carried the ball six times for 34 yards on the opening drive, only to net four yards on his next 16 carries.

“Idaho State limited the run because they had eight men in the box most of the time and that usually leaves you in one-on-one coverage on the perimeter so we took advantage of them in a different way.” Mooshagian said. “There were a lot of holes and opportunities to run the ball, we just didn’t execute on a consistent basis in that phase of our offense.

“Execution is still the biggest factor in a successful run game.”

Despite the loss, Mooshagian is very encouraged by what he has seen in the defense in the last two ballgames. Sac State’s defense has forced 10 turnovers and sacked the quarterback 10 times in the last two weeks.

“The defense has started to jell and that is usually the result of everyone playing together as a unit,” Mooshagian said. “We have only three starters back from last year, so it takes time for the new to mix with the returnees.”

The Hornets will take on one of the top teams in the Big Sky in Eastern Washington this Saturday in Cheney, Wash., at 2:05 p.m. Eastern (5-3, 4-1) is currently in third place in the conference behind the Montana schools, who each post 3-0 Big Sky records. The Eagles are coming off a 51-7 win over Weber State this past weekend.

“Eastern Washington is probably the most complete team in the conference,” Mooshagian said. “They were very young a year ago and have a lot of experienced players who are playing at a very high level.

“We have to be on top of our game in all phases to be successful on the road this week.”

Eagles’ quarterback Erik Meyer leads the Big Sky in quarterback efficiency (174.3 rating) while wide receiver Eric Kimble ranks second in receiving (98.3 yards per game). Running back Darius Washington ranks second in the Big Sky in rushing (108.1 yards per game) and his backup Dezmon Cole had 199 yards in the Eagles win over Weber State.