The Sacramento Mountain Lions of the United Football League released their 2011 schedule of games. The first two scheduled games are at home in Sacramento State’s Hornet Stadium, but still figure to be big challenges for the team according to the head coach Dennis Green.

Behind strong support from the Sacramento fan base, the Lions went 4-4 in 2010, but will try to improve their standings from last year. They kickoff the season with the league’s first ever Sunday game against the Omaha Nighthawks on Aug 14. The following Saturday will feature the defending UFL champion, Las Vegas Locomotives, on Aug 20.

Lions’ head coach, manager and former NFL head coach Dennis Green is ready for the season, but he is also aware of the tough start.

“It is exciting because our first two games are at home,” Green said on the UFL website. “It hopefully gives us a chance to build some momentum. I think Omaha comes into the year as one of the favorites. I think they will start fast again this year. It will be very exciting.”

Last season brought tailgating to Sacramento, when fans showed up en masse hours before the games to barbecue in the stadium parking lot. According to the statistics gathered by the UFL, Sacramento finished second (18,250) to Omaha (22,786) in average home attendance. Compare that to the Sacramento Kings average home attendance of just 13,890 and it shows that the Lions have made an impression.

Game times have not yet been released, but individual tickets will be made available within the next several weeks.