Despite losing two straight games the Sacramento State football team held a rally in front of excited fans Thursday morning.

About 125 fans showed up at the rally to support the Sac State Hornets football team, including the Sac State cheerleading team. Head coach Marshall Sperbeck and a few of the Hornets players were guest speakers at the event.

Sperbeck fired up the crowd with his speech, encouraging fans to come out and support the Hornets.

“We appreciate the fan support and hope that everyone comes out to the game on Saturday,” Sperbeck said. “We’re ready, we’re fired up, it’s going to be a good home game and we’re ready to take this on.”

Fans also got a chance to talk with Sperbeck and the players after their speeches. Some of the players, coaches and cheerleaders even joined in on the games being played at the rally.

Sophomore construction management major Alex Rossi said he enjoyed interacting with the players and coaches.

“It was a fun experience. It’s nice to know the players and coaches care about the fans and appreciate all the support,” Rossi said. “I had a great time playing all the players and coaches in the games.”

The Sac State Green Army and the Sac State bookstore put on the rally. The Green Army is a student booster group that promotes school spirit. The main focus of the Green Army is to recruit students to come support all Hornet athletic events.

Green Army member and junior media communications major Antoine Johnson said fan support is growing. He said if the team continues to win, the fan support would continue to grow.

Freshman business major Lawrence Bridgett is a huge Hornet fan and said he enjoyed the rally.

“It was a lot of fun and a great way to introduce the football team and generate support for them,” Bridgett said. “I’m a big fan of Sac State and their performance against Oregon State was flawless. I love underdog stories.”

The Hornets will look to add another underdog story on Saturday against No. 9 Montana Grizzlies. Sac State is winless against Montana in 16 games.

Senior wide receiver Brandyn Reed said he hopes to see everyone at the game on Saturday.

“We have to put fans in the stands, we can’t do it without the fans,” Reed said.

Last year’s home opener was a 31-17 win against Western Oregon.

Senior quarterback Jeff Fleming threw for 209 yards and scored two touchdowns, one passing and one rushing. Senior running back Bryan Hilliard ran for 107 yards and two touchdowns in a balanced offensive attack.

The Hornets defense allowed 266 passing yards but shut down the run game to 74 yards on 27 carries.

The Hornets will look to duplicate last year’s home opener and climb back to 2-2 on the year against the Grizzlies.

Kickoff is at 6:05 p.m. at Hornet Stadium and is free to all Sac State students with a valid OneCard.

Josh Stanley can be reached at [email protected].