Bulldogs ready for stretch drive

Originally Published: November 11, 2003

By Ed Graney | Special to ESPN.com

The Bulldogs beat Nevada 21-10 and still control their destiny in the conference race. Fresno State is 6-4 overall, 4-1 in league and hosts rival San Jose State this week. If the Bulldogs win, it will set up a first-place game against Boise State on Nov. 21.

"We have had a lot of must-win games in November the past several years," said Fresno State coach Pat Hill, whose team is 17-2 after Halloween since 1999 and has won 13 straight regular-season games in November and December. "San Jose has always been a big game for us. Past players here speak about what great games we've had. The overall series record is 32-32-3, so that speaks to what a good game it is. They have very good, skilled athletes."

The conference schedule has hardly been to Fresno State's advantage. The Bulldogs have played just one home league game (against Rice on Oct. 25) thus far. "It's nice to be home," said Hill. "It has been a long stretch. It's always tough for us because of the (difficult) schedule we play early. We also went through a lot of changes with injuries. But San Jose is the only game on our plate right now. It's the only one we're thinking about. Hopefully, we can continue the trend of winning (in November)."

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