It was over one year ago that Sacramento State went to Cal Poly, San Louis Obispo for their second game of the regular season. Expectations were high for the team, especially for defensive lineman Bilal Watkins who was coming off a stellar 2000 season.

The 6-foot-1, 287-pound nose guard was named second-team all-Big Sky and led the team with 6.5 sacks in 2000. Lindy’s Football Magazine also selected him as a 2001 preseason All-American.

Making a routine tackle against the Mustangs, a teammate fell into the back of Watkins’ leg, ending his football season and beginning the process of rebuilding a heavily damaged right knee.

A year has passed and Watkins is ready for the Cal Poly rematch at Hornet stadium on Saturday at 6:05 pm.

“There is no anxiety,” Watkins said. “They beat us bad last year. It is payback time and we are going to have some fun.”

Watkins has spent the last year rehabilitating a knee that needed an overhaul. He tore his anterior cruciate ligament, fractured two bones, and also strained his medial collateral ligament and posterior cruciate ligament.

“I don’t know what a nervous breakdown is, but I am pretty sure I had one,” Watkins said. “The pain was physically painful but more than anything it was just emotional. Working hard to get better for the 2001 season and having it all taken away from you just like that, I don’t know how to explain it.”

Watkins has started at nose guard in the Hornets first two losses of the season, but Sac State looks to be evenly matched with Cal Poly who are winless in their first three games of the season and have traveled to Ohio twice in the last three weeks, potentially making them a very fatigued team.

“They are a good football team and they have no weaknesses,” Hornet coach John Volek said. “We have to improve our execution.”Watkins agrees with his coach that a win against Cal Poly will be a difficult task, but it is definitely feasible.

“It’s going to take everybody, as a whole and as a team,” Watkins said. “It’s going to take special teams, defense, and offense to win the game. We’ve got to come together and everybody has got to contribute.”

The Hornet defense has given up 62 points in the last two games, but on Saturday against Cal Poly the team hopes to make use of the bye week they had last weekend.

The extra week has given players the opportunities to have nagging injuries heal, while the coaches have been focusing on the fundamentals at practice. Quarterback Ryan Leadingham even took the opportunity to have two of his wisdom teeth removed.

“Practices have been intense, hard and very focused,” Volek said. Hungry for a win, Sac State has been preparing for the Mustangs and their home opener for two weeks.

“From (Texas, El Paso) to Saint Mary’s we have made great strides as a defense as far as running around and tackling,” Watkins said. “We have got to keep running around like we have been doing and just make big plays.”

Watkins admits he felt rusty in his first start of the season. He confides that he is not at the same level he was in 2000, but is working much harder to regain his pre-injury form.

“By the fourth or fifth game he should be hitting his stride,” Volek said. “He should have more freedom of mobility and get better every game.”

Sac State is trying to garnish the same success they had in the 2000 season when the team went 7-4. Avenging last year’s 55-21 loss to Cal Poly, could spark a turnaround for the winless Hornets.

Watkins contribution to the defensive line along with defensive end Ben Fox and defensive tackle Eric Broden could possibly be a big part of rejuvenating Sac State.

“I want to make first-team all-Big Sky and just be able to play like I did when I first started,” Watkins said. “I want to make an impact on this team and an impact on this league. That’s the biggest thing for me, just being able to play at the same level.”

Watkins even earned his degree to gain a year of eligibility back so he could play this season. He is currently working on his advanced degree in Child Development.

“He has such a love for the game,” Volek said. “Bilal brings enthusiasm and leadership to the team. The players respect him and he is an example on the practice field always playing at game level. At game time he always gives his best effort.” Watkins is somewhat of an anomaly on the team. At 26 years old, he is nine years older than the Hornet’s youngest player, Zvonimir Cavka. Watkins joined the Navy coming out of Roosevelt High School in Fresno, Calif., spending four-and-a-half years stationed in Japan.

“The military to me is like football, you have your disagreements amongst one another, but when it comes down to it you have to come together as a unit,” Watkins said. “No matter what happens you have got to be in that unit and working within the system.”

While stationed in Japan, Watkins dreamed of coming back to the states to reinstate his football career.

He worked out constantly and walked on to Palomar Junior College, playing there for two years, before coming to Sac State in 2000.

The 0-2 Hornets hope their extra week of practice will lead them to the season’s first victory on Saturday.

“I think both teams are so hungry for a win,” Volek said. “It is going to be an emotional first half with both teams fighting to get on top first. We need our students and fans to help us out and be the 12th man.”