The Sacramento State football team is back on the field for the first time since November as it had the first of two spring practice sessions.

Head coach Steve Mooshagian is trying to get his team to improve on the Hornets’ 3-8 record of last season.

“We are a lot farther ahead than we were at this time last year,” Mooshagian said. “We have more depth and experience, but we need to get better in some key areas.”

The Hornets will try to replace four senior starters from a year ago, two of which were first-team All-Big Sky selections — wide receiver Fred Amey and cornerback Ramon Payne.

Amey is the Hornets’ all-time leading receiver and was a three-time all conference selection. Mooshagian thinks his team has the experience necessary to somewhat replace a receiver like Amey.

Philip Perry and Ryan Coogler got the majority of the playing time last year after Amey, and they are adding a newcomer in Gabe Hatchett who spent last season at Toledo but did not play last year.

The loss of Amey will be cushioned by having starting tight end McRuben Fleurinord back along with two recruits in Ray Navar, who will be a freshman from Alta Loma and Jon Garcia a transfer from Orange Coast Junior College.

The loss of Payne hurts the secondary but Mooshagian thinks he has the depth at that position as well. The Hornets do have both starting safeties back in Brett Shelton and Brent Webber. Both were freshmen in 2004 and Shelton was named second team all-conference.

“The defense looks solid with eight starters returning, although we held both Chris Hurts and Brent Webber out of spring with injury rehab,” Mooshagian said.

Mooshagian was excited about the progress of all three units on defense. He said defensive lineman Jacob Houston really stood out for them in practice. The defensive end led the conference in sacks in 2004 and like Shelton and linebacker Jimmy Ellingson, was named second team all-Big Sky.

One spot where Mooshagian said a starter won’t be named for a while is quarterback. He will try to replace departed senior Ryan Leadingham who started all four years of his career. Leadingham was one of the most prolific passers in school history.

“Brad Tredway, Crosby Wehr will be battling, along with transfer Tim Bessalo. After training camp is when the decision will be made,” Mooshagian said.Tredway was Leadingham’s top backup last year and will be a senior next season. In the limited action he saw, he threw a touchdown pass and had 132 yards for the season.

Wehr and Bessalo will both be sophomores next season. Wehr didn’t play last year as a freshman and Bessalo is transferring from Long Beach City Junior College where he shared the quarterback duties in 2004.

The team will open its season in Berkeley on Sept. 5 against Pac-10 power California. The Golden Bears were 10-2 last season as one of their losses was to the eventual champion USC. This game was mentioned many times during practices as the Hornets already have it in their minds.

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Mitch McLaughlin can be reached at [email protected]