A year ago Zach Schrader didn't figure on suiting up against the No. 2 ranked team in the Football Championship Subdivision, the Montana Grizzlies.

At the time he was a starting safety at Western Washington, a Division II program in Bellingham that was building toward a 6-5 campaign. As it turned out, that 98th season would be the last for the Vikings. The school pulled the plug on football.

Once the shock wore off, Schrader started looking for teams. Weber State showed interest. Central Washington, another D-II school, was in the hunt along with Dixie State of Utah.

"I got the offer from Sac State early," said the 190-pound junior. "And I took it."

Schrader has found a home in Hornet Stadium. His 64 tackles far and away lead Sacramento State heading into Saturday's game against the visiting Griz.

"We were just hoping he could come in and contribute and help us," said third-year coach Marshall Sperbeck, who is trying to rebuild a program that was once a Division II power. "He's certainly exceeded all of our expectations. He's been a leader, he's played hard, and he's made a lot of plays for us."

Schrader is one of several new faces for the 2-4 Hornets, who began the season with three straight losses.

"The first three weeks we had a tough schedule," noted junior quarterback Jason Smith, one of the more experienced Hornets with 26 starts. "Cal Poly and Eastern Washington, I think they're really good teams."

Wins over Big Sky Conference foes Portland State (31-14) and visiting Idaho State (38-17) followed, before the Hornets were thumped 49-10 at Weber State.

"Last week I just think we came out a little flat," said Smith, who took a year off after graduating from Liberty High in Brentwood, Calif., before walking on at Sac State. "It wasn't really as lopsided as the score showed. We played well, but we just had too many turnovers."

Weber State swarmed over the Hornets with two touchdowns in the final 45 seconds of the first half. Weber does that; Eastern can tell you about it. Yet the pattern goes deeper for Sac State, which trailed Cal Poly 24-12 - the Mustangs scored a TD with 34 seconds left in the half - at intermission of a 38-19 loss and fell behind 38-9 at halftime against Eastern before losing 56-30.

Sac State went 6-6 last season, a high-water mark of sorts for a program that hadn't had a winning season since 2000, and has yet to beat Montana. Sperbeck, who played QB in the Big Sky for Nevada in 1981-82, figured it'd be tough to replace the likes of receiver Tony Washington and linebackers Cyrus Mulitalo and Mike Shannon.

Adding to the task was losing running back Bryan Hilliard to surgery on both shoulders. Hilliard ran for 1,908 yards his first two seasons,

"I miss Bryan and Tony," admitted Smith, who also learned the week of the Weber State game that Chase Deadder (21 catches in 2008) wouldn't return from a broken collarbone suffered in the summer. "But Matt Larson and Brandyn Reed, and guys like John Hendershott and Brian Heath - those guys have done a great job.

"I have more weapons to go to this year," Smith added. "Last year it was kind of all Tony and Bryan, but this year I have a lot more guys I can go to."

Dylan Lane is one. The top returning receiver leads the team with 21 catches and Hendershott and Reed, both JC transfers, follow with 20 and 17. Reed is 6-foot-4, speedy and averages 16.6 yards a catch.

With Hilliard on the shelf, the carries fell to Evander Wilkins and Washington transfer Terrance Dailey. Then the 5-7, 165-pound Wilkins hurt a hamstring, and Dailey, a 195-pound sophomore, responded with three 100-yard games.

Dailey outgained Weber State star Trevyn Smith 96-56 last week. The bad news is if he and 165-pound freshman Sam McCowan get hurt, the Hornets may have to turn to backup QB Jon Loeliger or linebacker Jeff Badger to carry the ball.

If the defense begins up front, Sac State has a good start because Clark, fellow tackle Bill Sherman and end Kevin Moore all started last season. The loss of Mulitalo and Mike Shannon at linebacker was big, but Sac State brought in 240-pound Jarred Pereira- another one of 17 JC transfers added to the roster - to man the middle. Peter Buck, formerly a safety, is now a 220-pound strong-side backer.

Durrell Oliver provides senior leadership at corner, and sophomore free safety Deionte Gordon has started every game since he arrived at Sac State.

And Schrader has been a key addition, even if the parts have yet to add up to a lot of wins.

"I've learned a lot more here from our DB coach (Anthony Parker)," said Schrader. "He's enhanced my game triple.

"I'm enjoying myself down here a lot - I'm having a lot of fun," he added. "As far as the winning, that would be nice. As far as physical abilities, it all comes down to who can play football."

Schrader can apparently play.

Fritz Neighbor can be reached at 523-5247 or at fneighbor@missoulian.com.