Saturday night’s football game was a new experience for me. Yes, I have seen Fresno State win a football game before.

And yes, I have seen Pat Hill call the same zone-blocking running play 17 times in a row before. Nothing noteworthy there.

But I have never before seen it with three generations of Fresno State Bulldogs. Let me explain. I watched Saturday night’s matchup between Fresno State and New Mexico State with my grandma (Nana) and my parents – all three are Fresno State alums.

You see, the game was only televised on ESPNU, a rather obscure television channel that about 103 people between Bakersfield and Sacramento actually pay for every month. One of those people is my (grand) Pa Hoppy.

When the Fresno State game was switched over a few weeks ago to the channel that I don’t get through my cable service provider, I called my go-to guy. Pa Hoppy has more than 900 channels and a 65-inch high definition projection screen that will probably be outlawed when 2011 rolls around.

It’s pure, beautiful, televised sports heaven in all its glory. He could have charged admission.

Instead of just going over to watch the game, my Nana decided it could be a family get-together and we could break bread and enjoy some old stories before the football game. Nana took the breaking bread part very seriously and bought 14 loaves of bread for seven people. I have never gone hungry in a Hopkins’ house before.

After dinner it was business time. It was time for the ’Dogs to go to work and the nation’s leading rusher, tailback Ryan Mathews, to wow three generations of fans.

The Aggies received the opening kickoff and were quickly stopped by a stout Bulldog defense that only gave up three points all night. New Mexico State was forced to punt the ball to Fresno State.

The ’Dogs got the ball and it was time to watch the Valley’s Heisman candidate pad those stats. But he only had two carries for seven yards on the opening drive and the Bulldog had to punt the ball right back.
I could feel it in the room. Nobody wanted to watch New Mexico State’s offense. It is literally the worst offense in college football.

I was hoping that Pa Hoppy would have some space-aged fast forward function on his TV, but no luck. We agonized, waiting for Mathews to get back on the field.

Fresno State got the ball back after New Mexico State kicked a field goal, taking the lead 3-0 in the first quarter. All right, here we go, here’s the answer.

But wait, no Mathews. No number 21. No electricity in cleats. No Heisman.

Mathews was on the sideline for the Bulldogs’ next two drives – two drives that both ended with a three-and-out. Panic ensued.

“Is Ryan hurt?” my dad asked.

“Why would Hill take out his best player?” Pa Hoppy shouted.

I saw it in all three generations’ eyes and at that moment, I learned something about Bulldog fans.

Mathews means a whole lot to this community of Red Wavers.

Mathews came back into the game after those two drives and my Nana was able to put the Pepto-Bismol back in the medicine cabinet. We still don’t know why he left the game, but no one cared. He was back.
Mathews had some decent runs in the first half, but the family room erupted after his 68-yard burst in the fourth quarter.

It wasn’t the game winner. It was actually the last seven points of the game, putting Fresno State up 34-3. The run didn’t put the Aggies out of contention – that happened much earlier.

Mathews finished his night with 157 yards and two touchdowns – stats good enough to keep his name in that Heisman discussion, at least for another week. And that 68-yard run was nearly half his total.
The run gave Bulldog fans hope. For another week, the team’s best player is still in the running to be the best player in college football.

It may be far-fetched, but who really believed Boise State could have beaten Oklahoma in a Bowl Championship Series (BCS) game three years ago?

A player from a non-BCS conference hasn’t won the Heisman Trophy since 1989, nine years before the crooked BCS system even began. Mathews has a chance to do it for generations of dedicated Bulldog fans who are all behind him.

Who needs a perfect season and the help of biased voters and computer rankings?

Tailback Ryan Mathews is college football’s 2009 BCS buster.