ASHLAND – Though the frustration of losing two games by a total of nine points lingers, Southern Oregon University is eager to prove it isn't a typical 0-2 football team.

Which is exactly what the 14^th-ranked Raiders have in front of them this week. The Sacramento State Hornets – winless, scoreless and almost certainly the biggest challenge on SOU's schedule as a member of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision – will host the Raiders in their home opener at 6:05 p.m. Saturday.

Hornet Stadium, with a capacity of 21,195, will provide a different feel for the Raiders, as will the competition itself fresh off losses to San Jose State and Arizona State by an aggregate of 79-0.

SOU knows what the Hornets are capable of: They've knocked off Pac-12 schools – Oregon State and Colorado – in each of the past two seasons and went 4-4 in the Big Sky Conference last year. But the Raiders plan to embrace the challenge and leave the first two weeks behind.

"Everyone takes losses different ways, but whenever you have consecutive losses there's a couple ways you can go as a team," senior defensive end Daniel Breaux (Greenfield, Calif./Greenfield) said. "We're trying to steer ourselves in the right direction and people are jacked up to play this week. This is a great opportunity for us."

The Raiders have reason to believe they can compete, too. They last played Sacramento State in 2008 in the midst of a 3-7 season and trailed by just a touchdown heading into the fourth quarter, eventually losing 27-16. That was the schools' first matchup since the Hornets took four of five from the Raiders between 1955 and 1962.

While showing flashes of their potential, the Raiders have yet to put everything together. Last Saturday's 38-34 loss at Montana Western was particularly disheartening after squandering a 10-point lead in the final six minutes.

"Usually you make your biggest improvement from Week 1 to Week 2 and for whatever reason we just did not improve like we expected," SOU head coach Craig Howard said. "The players aren't happy with how we played. But they're resilient and relentless and I love coaching them because they want to win so bad."

Not that the Raiders didn't have their moments. The offense put up 494 yards a week after posting 542, and the defense stopped UMW on five straight possessions in the second half. Both units lacked execution in the final minutes, though: SOU came up short on its last four drive and UMW punched in its last two.

"It's our job to learn from it and make those fixes," Breaux said. "This will be a big test to see if we have."


SAC STATE'S BUZZ

Despite the ugly start, Marshall Sperbeck has made the Hornets consistently respectable since taking over as head coach in 2007. They went 6-5 last season and are 30-39 in his seven years.

The SOU defense will have to contend against a senior tailback, Ezekiel Graham, whom the Raiders tried to lure after he led California junior colleges in all-purpose yards as a sophomore. Sacramento State has proved to be a good fit, though, when he totaled 861 yards on the ground and 406 through the air in 2012 – a total of 115.2 per game. Graham has been held to 2.4 yards per carry this year.

Garrett Safron, in his third year as starting quarterback, also proved to be a dual threat as the Hornets' second-leading rusher in 2012. He completed 64.2 percent of his passes for 231 yards per game and has gone 34-for-61 with 303 passing yards and four interceptions this year.

Safron's top target is senior Morris Norrise, whose 143 catches and 1,185 reception yards both rank second in school history. Norrise was second team all-Big Sky in 2012.

The Hornet defense has had its share of problems so far, allowing 8.7 yards per pass, 4.1 per rush and 890 total, but a 55-0 loss at Arizona State didn't do the numbers any favors.

"It's exciting for our kids to play a Big Sky school because a lot of them wanted to play at that level," Howard said. "It's a good challenge and it's a great opportunity for us to improve."

The Hornets have played four games against teams from lower divisions in the last 10 years and won all of them.


BIG-TIME HISTORY

This will be the second time the Raiders have matched up with an NCAA Division I team since Howard's arrival in 2011. The first resulted in a 52-0 loss at Portland State on Sept. 3, 2011.

After the 27-16 loss at Sacramento State in 2008, the Raiders also pushed a DI opponent in 2009 when they fell 30-24 at North Dakota in the final game of the season. Southern Oregon picked up its only win against the Hornets in 1962, 21-7 in Ashland.


ALL ABOUT US

While the Raiders would prefer to put up more points, they've had plenty of offense to at least boast some NAIA leaders. Dylan Young (Salem, Ore./North Salem), a 6-foot-3 junior, leads the nation in catches (19) and reception yardage (305). Junior quarterback Austin Dodge (Vancouver, Wash./Skyview) is second in passing yards per game (365) and has completed 67.7 percent of his attempts.

Sophomore tailback Zach Marshall (Camas, Wash./Camas) is averaging 91.5 yards per game and 4.5 per carry to lead the team and freshman tailback Melvin Mason (Vacaville, Calif./Vacaville) has tacked on 60 per game. Matt Retzlaff (Medford, Ore./South Medford) has three touchdowns on the ground and two more receiving to lead the team.

Linebackers Mylz Blake (Los Angeles, Calif./Palisades Charter) and Laurence Calcagno (Canby, Ore./Canby) lead the Raiders in tackles with 16 and 15, respectively.

This, the second of four straight road dates, will be the Raiders' only nonconference game of the regular season. They'll resume their Frontier Conference schedule next week at Eastern Oregon in La Grande.