The Sacramento State football team is looking to finish the rest of the season strong, starting with the upcoming game on Oct. 28 against the 1-6 Northern Colorado at Hornet Stadium. The team is staying upbeat, said head coach Steve Mooshagian, and with three Big Sky opponents left, the players are still looking to finish high in the conference.

‘We’ve got a lot to play for and are still [looking] to have a successful season,” Mooshagian said.

The Hornets are also looking to have a few injured starters returning to the field against Northern Colorado. Junior wide-receiver Philip Perry, junior defensive tackle Dallas Mauga and junior cornerback Jody Johnson all missed last week’s 39-22 loss to Northern Arizona and are looking to return to the field this Saturday.

The team has lost consistency over the past couple of games because players had to be shuffled around to fill in spots, Mooshagian said, but the team will gain some familiarity with several players returning this Saturday.

Saturday’s game against Northern Arizona was a high passing affair with both teams accumulating 720 yards in the air, the the Lumberjacks contributing 384 of those passing yards.

The Hornets defensive backs had some problems that needed to be addressed and the unit is working hard in practice to fix them, said junior strong safety Brent Webber.

“The defense is going to come back strong from a poor performance last week,” Webber said.

Junior quarterback Marcel Marquez finished the night 25 for 40 with 336 yards passing, a career high for Marquez in a Hornets jersey. Marquez now wants to get the Hornets’ winning streak going again.

“I’m not worried about personal goals,” Marquez said. “Getting some more wins right now is all I’m worried about.”

Coach Mooshagian explained that the difference in preparing for the upcoming game is his coaching staff is not certain if the Northern Colorado players with police run-ins will be able to play. The coaches have been preparing more for the schemes Northern Colorado has than the players, Mooshagian said.

The Northern Colorado football team has been under fire with the authorities this season with back-up punter Mitch Cozad being accused of stabbing starting punter Rafael Mendoza and senior defensive lineman Jacob Carlson was charged with disorderly conduct for his involvement in a fight at a local restaurant earlier this month. Carlson was suspended from the team.

Later on Oct. 15, police arrested fullback Garrett Bliss for his involvement in a fight and later charged tight end Clint Wright as an accessory to the fight.

The NCAA has also suspended Chad Brown, Northern Colorado’s offensive coordinator, offensive line coach Brian Natkin and running back coach Keith Grable for this Saturday’s game against the Hornets for their involvement in an unauthorized practice session in March.

Matthew Beltran can be reached at [email protected]