Players Hope to Save Football at Northridge

With Cal State Northridge administrators considering the elimination of football, players attended the weekly student-government meeting Thursday and decided to try to rally support to save the 40-year-old program.

About 50 players said they will make speeches in front of their lecture halls and flood Northridge President Jolene Koester with e-mails, trying to do whatever it takes to get their point across.

“We don’t have that much support from students and faculty, so we’re going to have to make some noise ourselves,” said junior receiver Drew Amerson. “Hopefully, it’ll be like a domino effect.”

Coach Jeff Kearin has been sending e-mails and working the phones with local and state government officials.

Athletic Director Dick Dull recommended to Koester last week that the football program be terminated after the season because of financial and gender-equity concerns. Koester is expected to make a decision in late November.

“I am calling everybody from [Gov.] Gray Davis to every state senator to members of the L.A. City Council,” Kearin said. “This affects their constituents. There are opportunities to compete and to earn a scholarship that would be lost.”

The Matadors (1-3), an independent Division I-AA team, play at UC Davis on Saturday.