Last week at this time, the Sacramento State football team was without three of its four quarterbacks due to injury and had to prepare a redshirt freshman for the biggest game of his life.

Sac State (4-3, 3-1 Big Sky Conference) redshirt freshman quarterback Roman Ale — who frantically studied on the plane and in his hotel room with co-offensive coordinator Luke Huard the day before — finished 13-of-19 for 263 yards and two touchdowns while the Hornets hung on for a 34-27 win Oct. 21 at North Dakota. The same performance might be needed Saturday, as Sac State prepares to travel to Northern Arizona (5-2, 4-0 Big Sky), which sits atop the Big Sky standings.

“He’s a state-championship quarterback coming out of high school, and so we knew, physically, he could get it done, and he had a lot of older guys that were going to help him out,” said Isiah Hennie, the Hornets senior receiver. “We weren’t going to let him just come in and ruin our whole idea of what the season was going to be, and so Roman came in and stepped up and that is exactly what I expected from the kid.”

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As of now, the Lumberjacks have no idea what to expect from the Hornets’ quarterback position, as head coach Jody Sears — who declined to comment on the nature and extent of his players’ injuries — has yet to announce a starter. Sears told The State Hornet that it’ll be between Ale and junior Wyatt Clapper, unless junior starter Kevin Thomson “is feeling better.” Of the three, Thomson is the only player with an extensive history of injuries, as he needed to have Tommy John surgery during his time at the University of Las Vegas, Nevada.

However, the Hornets’ defense will know exactly who to anticipate when they play the Lumberjacks: the No. 9 leading passer and No. 3 leading receiver in the Football Championship Subdivision. Northern Arizona sophomore quarterback Case Cookus (2,224 yards, 18 touchdowns and four interceptions) and senior receiver Elijah Marks (54 receptions, 945 yards and six touchdowns) represent one of the best duos in the FCS, and Sears is well aware.

“You can’t stop them, first off,” Sears said. “You’ve just, kind of, try to contain them and not get impatient. You can’t let the receiver get behind you, you’ve got to keep the quarterback contained as well because he can make some throws on the run and escape.”

Sac State will also focus on outperforming a Lumberjacks’ defense that is statistically familiar in three crucial categories: scoring defense, total defense and turnovers. The programs both rank in the top five of the Big Sky in both points and total yards allowed, while Northern Arizona (12) edges the Hornets (11) in interceptions for the No. 1 spot.

To help find an edge, Hennie said he hopes the Hornets’ rushing attack can “run the ball down their throat” and separate the two programs. Sac State averages 210.9 rushing yards per game (fourth in conference), while the Lumberjacks average 118.6 yards per contest (12th in conference).

“Taking care of the ball and being able to run the ball is our No. 1 goal as a unit,” Hennie said. “Not including the last game (against North Dakota), we’ve had three straight games where we ran for 300 yards, and that is why we’re able to be successful on offense.”

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Prior to Sac State’s road success over North Dakota, the Hornets were winless in their last 14 games dating back to 2014 away from Hornet Stadium. Hennie, who was a member of the team during each of those losses, chalked it up to lack of maturity.

“We had problems being locked in on the road, and so that is one thing where we made a change this week,” Hennie said. “When we got to the hotel there wasn’t, for lack of a better word, shits and giggles, it was kind of just business.

“We understand that we have goals for this team, and so being able to win on the road is one way to accomplish those goals.”

Sac State, which is 1-2 on the road, will travel to play Northern Arizona at 4 p.m. Saturday at the Walkup Skydome in Flagstaff, Arizona.