For Opener, Matadors Lose Starting Receiver

On Monday, Northridge wide receiver Jerome Henry talked about wanting the season to start already.

On Tuesday, Henry found out the season will start without him.

Henry, a senior and the team’s top receiver, has a stress fracture in the lower right leg and will miss the opener at Boise State on Saturday and perhaps several more games.

He was injured initially during drills on Aug. 13 and had not practiced the past few days. The fracture was discovered after more X-rays were taken Tuesday.

“It’s a big loss but we can’t focus on that,” Coach Jim Fenwick said. “We’ve got to get everyone else ready.”

Henry was an All-Big Sky Conference honorable mention last season after catching 47 passes for 767 yards.

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Cal State Northridge is ranked No. 157 among the 232 Division I-A and I-AA football teams in the country in the Sagarin ratings.

The Big Sky Conference, a I-AA league, is ranked No. 12 among 25 conferences. Other Big Sky teams and their rankings: Montana (57), Northern Arizona (93), Weber State (111), Eastern Washington (120), Montana State (125), Idaho State (135), and Portland State (158). Hawaii (105) and New Mexico State (143) are I-A teams and Northridge opponents.

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Fenwick liked it. Ditto for Henry and linebacker Marc Goodson.

To them, the new Cal State Northridge athletic logo is a hit.

“It makes us look good,” Goodson said. “When I feel good, I play good.”

Northridge on Monday unveiled the logo, or, actually, part of what eventually will be a complete symbol, and the football team will wear it on its helmets at Boise State.

The logo, created by a New York designing firm, shows a bullfighter’s sword running horizontally through a stylistic letter “N” set in red, black and white with a gray outline.

Paul Bubb, Northridge’s athletic director, said the full logo should be ready later this season.

Some of the Matadors might even want to add dark face shields to their glossy black helmets, creating a Darth Vader look.

“If it’s worth points, we’d probably do it,” Fenwick said.

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Matador games will be broadcast on KCSN (88.5 FM) with Bret Lewis doing play by play.