Following a controversial and heart-wrenching 31-30 loss against Montana State on Nov. 2, the Sacramento State football team will head to Missoula, Mont., to take on the No. 1-ranked Montana Grizzlies on Nov. 9. The game will kick off at 11:05 a.m. PST.

The contest can be heard locally on KTKZ 1380 AM with Walt Gray handling the play-by-play and Bill Macriss adding the color commentary. For those outside the greater Sacramento area, the game will also be available on the internet at www.hornetsports.com.

The game will also be televised on UPN-31 KMAX. Jason Ross and Steve McElroy will shift from radio to television to provide the play-by-play and color commentary, respectively.

Sacramento State enters the game with a 3-6 overall record and a 2-3 mark in Big Sky games. The Hornets have won their past two road games but have never claimed a victory at Montana. In last week’s outing against Montana State, the Hornets led 30-28 with no time remaining, but a penalty allowed MSU to make a field goal on an untimed down to claim a 31-30 victory.

Montana enters the week with a 23-game winning streak. The streak is the second-longest in I-AA history and trails only Miami’s 30-game streak for the longest active streak for all NCAA divisions.

Last week, Montana defeated Northern Arizona, 38-24. In the game, the Griz held NAU to minus-18 yards rushing and tallied nine sacks.

The Griz have dominated the all-time series, 7-0.

• Meet the Coaches

Head coach John Volek enters his eighth season at Sacramento State. Volek has guided the Hornets to winning records in two of the last three seasons, including a I-AA-era school record 7-4 mark in 2000.

The UC Riverside graduate has built a high-powered offense which has set 32 offensive team records and 43 individual records. He has also had eight Hornets go on to sign NFL contracts.

Volek’s coaching career began at UCR. He then moved to Santa Cruz High School before moving to Mt. San Jacinto JC. From there, Volek headed north to Walla Walla JC where he was an assistant and then head coach (1984-87). He later returned to California to lead Fresno City JC from 1988-94 before taking over at Sacramento State.

Volek enters the week with a 29-56-1 overall record but has posted a 23-30 mark over the last four years (1998-present).

Montana is guided by Joe Glenn who is in his third season as head coach. Under Glenn, UM has posted a 37-3 overall record. Prior to Montana, Glenn was the head coach at Northern Colorado. In his 19 total seasons as a head coach, he is 156-56-1.

A Look at the Hornets

• So Close

Sophomore Ryan Leadingham wasted little time working his way into the Hornet record book. The quarterback not only set the single-season records for yards, attempts and completions, he has also close to setting nearly every career record. Leadingham entered the season with 2,752 yards, which ranked eighth on the school’s career list. He set the career completion record against Montana State last week and needs 381 yards to become the all-time yardage leader. The Covina, Calif., native is also just 25 attempts and six touchdowns away from setting the mark in those categories. Below is a list of where he ranks on the career records list:

CAREER

Yards

1. Mike Sullivan, 1981-83 5,085

2. Tony Corbin, 1995-96 4,866

3. Ryan Leadingham, 2001-pres. 4,705

Attempts

1. Tony Corbin, 1995-96 701

2. Ryan Leadingham, 2001-pres. 677

Completions

1. Ryan Leadingham, 2001-pres. 368

2. Mike Sullivan, 1981-83 365

Touchdowns

1. Tony Corbin, 1995-96 34

Mike Sullivan, 1981-83 34

3. Ricky Ray, 1999-2000 33

4. Greg Knapp, 1982-85 32

5. Ryan Leadingham, 2001-pres. 29

• Streaking

In what has become no surprise, quarterback Ryan Leadingham and receiver Fred Amey, once again, managed to find each other for a score against Montana State.

The catch was one of four for Amey, who finished the day with 60 receiving yards. The Union City, Calif., native, who missed the Northern Arizona game with a shoulder injury, also extended his consecutive games with a reception streak to 19 — each game of his collegiate career.

The touchdown pass by Leadingham also extended a streak of his own. The Covina, Calif., native has now thrown a TD in the last 12 games. The streak began at Cal State Northridge last season where he threw four touchdowns. During the streak, he has found the end zone 22 times.

• Playing for the Cameras

While not normally on television, Sacramento State is not a complete stranger to the small screen. Since 1999, Sacramento State has played nine games on local television. The Hornets have posted a 4-5 mark in those games. Seven of those contests have aired on UPN-31 KMAX, while the Eastern Washington and Weber State games were shown on Fox Sports.

• All-Purpose Amey

While his receiving ability has already been well documented, Amey has established himself as one of the best all-purpose players in the country. He enters the week ranked 12th in Div. I-AA and leading the Big Sky Conference with 160.8 all-purpose yards per game.

Against UC Davis, Amey amassed 110 punt return yards and 70 kickoff return yards. Combined with his 95 receiving yards, he ended the day with 275 all-purpose yards.

Amey now has 1,286 all-purpose yards this season. The school record is 2,445 by Troy Mills.

Going into this week, Amey leads Sacramento State and is ranked fourth in the Big Sky Conference with 5.38 receptions per game (43 total). He is third in the league with a team-high 81.5 yards per game.

He also ranks 14th in the nation and second in the Big Sky in kick returns, and is sixth in the league in punt returns.

• Moving On Up

Like Leadingham, Amey is also on pace to rewrite the school’s record book. Through just 20 games (19 in which he has appeared) Amey is already in the top five of each receiving record. As a freshman, he had 54 receptions for 885 yards and seven touchdowns. Below is a list of where he ranks in school history:

CAREER

Yards

1. Lamont Webb, 1997-2000 1,834

2. Scott Towne, 1997-2000 1,646

3. Fred Amey, 2001-pres. 1,537

Receptions

1. Lamont Webb, 1997-2000 119

2. Mike Carter, 1968-69 113

3. Gary Austin, 1999-pres. 100

4. Fred Amey, 2001-pres. 97

Touchdowns

1. Lamont Webb, 1997-2000 16

2. Eric Harrington, 1992-93 15

3. Mark Young, 1986-88 14

Fred Amey, 2001-pres. 14

• Every Which Way

Sacramento State has used a variety of ways to score points this season. Aside from the traditional rushing and passing touchdowns and field goals, the Hornets have scored points on a fake field goal, a punt return, an interception return and a fumble return.

The latest score came against Portland State on Oct. 19. In the game, Brad Osterhout sacked PSU quarterback Juston Wood and forced a fumble. The ball was picked up by Camron Mbewa who returned it 61 yards for a score.

The touchdown was the second for Mbewa in his three years with the team.

The fake field goal resulted in a 7-yard TD rush by Garrett White against UC Davis. The punt return also came against the Aggies when Fred Amey went 90 yards for the score.

The interception return was scored against Cal Poly by Kelly Micco. The ball was tipped at the line of scrimmage and caught by Micco at the 6-yard line where he walked into the end zone.

Sacramento State has also scored on three offensive trick plays. The first came at Idaho State where Kenan Smith threw 52 yards to Fred Amey. The second was a hook-and-lateral against UC Davis and the second happened at EWU when Garrett White found Smith for a 29-yard score.

• Road Sweet Road

In a change from the recent past, Sacramento State has found more success on the road this season than at home. The Hornets are currently 2-3 on the road this year. Conversely, the team is 1-3 in games played in Sacramento.

In fact, Sacramento State has won its past two road games with a 24-21 win at Northern Arizona and a 48-41 victory at Eastern Washington. This week, however, the Hornets will have their hands full against a Montana team that has won 22-straight home games. The Grizzlies last home loss came against Hofstra, 10-9, in the first game of the 2000 season (Sept. 2).

Including the loss to Montana State, the Hornets have now lost six of their last seven home games (2-8 at home since 2001). The current streak follows a 4-1 home record in 2000 and a 5-1 mark at home in 1999.

• Combined Effort

For the second time this season, Sacramento State recorded over 300 passing yards in a game but failed to record a 300-yard passer.

The Hornets totalled 310 passing yards against Montana State led by Leadingham’s 286 yards. Garrett White added one pass for 24 yards.

The team’s other 300-yard game came at Idaho State where it had 309 yards. In that contest, Leadingham had 257 yards while Kenan Smith had a 52-yard completion.

Leadingham recorded four 300-yard games last season, including the final three. The closest he has come to a 300-yard game this season was his performance against MSU. That game marked the first time he had thrown for over 200 yards since tallying 265 against UC Davis on Oct. 5.

• More Lead

Leadingham is on pace to record 2,604 passing yards this season. Combined with his total of 2,752 last season, the sophomore would have 5,356 career yards through two years. There have only been 13 players in I-AA history to record over 10,000 career passing yards. The I-AA record of 16,823 was set by Steve McNair of Alcorn State. Other Big Sky quarterbacks to eclipse 10,000 yards are Marcus Brady (13,095), Jamie Martin (12,287), Doug Nussmeier (12,054), Neil Lomax (11,647), Dave Dickenson (11,523), Travis Brown (11,267), Ken Hobart (11,127), Greg Wyatt (10,277) and John Friesz (10,187).

• Connections

There are numerous connections between Sacramento State and Montana. Griz punter Mark Spencer and Sacramento State’s Bilal Watkins, Shawn Brown and Seth Deyo are all products of Palomar JC in San Diego, Calif. The Hornets’ Najib Magee and UM’s Matt Stern and Pete Hamill are all graduates of Lake City HS in Couer d’Alene, Idaho. Montana’s Jefferson Heidelberger graduated from Nevada Union HS in nearby Nevada City, Calif. Montana safety Dave DeCoite is the grandson of former Hornet coach Ray Clemons.

A Look at the Grizzlies

• Montana enters the week with a 9-0 overall record and a 4-0 mark in the Big Sky Confernce. The Grizzlies have won 23-straight games dating back to last season. The streak ranks second in I-AA history. The all-time record is held by Pennsylvania who won 24 games from 1992-95.

• Despite being nine games into the season, Sacramento State and Montana have played just two common opponents. Both teams have met Northern Arizona and Portland State. The Grizzlies are 2-0 against the team’s while the Hornets have defeated NAU and lost to PSU.

• Senior quarterback John Edwards leads the Montana offense. A leading candidate for the Walter Payton Award, Edwards is averaging 253.1 passing yards per game. He has also completed 61.6 percent of his passes (175-284) and has an efficiency rating of 139.17.

• Aside from Edwards, the Griz offense does not have any single player that jumps out statistically. Montana, however, has used a balanced attack which has averaged 35.2 points per game.

The Grizzlies have four players that have over 50 rushing attempts this season. The quartet is led by JR Walker with 62.9 yards per game.

The team also has six players that have 10 receptions this season. Jon Talmage paces the group with 41 grabs and five touchdowns.

• Defensively, Montana has been one of the top teams in I-AA. The group has forced 26 turnovers and has recorded 42 sacks.

The Series

• The series has been dominated by Montana. Since 1993, the two teams have met seven times with the Griz winning each game. In fact, Montana has won by an average of 23.4 points per game.

Who’s Up Next

• Sacramento State returns home for its final Big Sky game of the year. The Hornets will meet Weber State on Nov. 16 at 6:05 p.m. The Wildcats lead the all-time series, 5-1.

Big Sky Notes

• MSU’s Travis Lulay captured the Big Sky Offensive Player of the Week award. Lulay was 26-of-37 for 319 yards and a pair of TDs.

• Montana’s Tim Bush was named the Defensive Player of the Week. Bush had four sacks and helped limit Northern Arizona to minus-18 rushing yards in the Griz’ 38-24 win.

• MSU’s Nate Cook and Portland State’s Mike Cajal-Willis shared special teams honors. Both kickers made game-winning field goals in the final moments.

Cook hit from 36-yards with no time left against Sacramento State while Cajal-Willis made a 20-yarder with one second remaining against Idaho State.

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