Coach Tedford talks Fresno State Bulldogs season opener against USC Trojans

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- It's game week one for Fresno State, and the Bulldogs are receiving votes to be in the Top 25.

Same can be said for their opponent this Saturday.

Head coach Jeff Tedford discussed the challenge of taking on USC at the Coliseum at a press conference on Monday.

"I think everybody realizes that it was a good year last year, but this is a whole new year. Whole new team. I think the players are really excited to play against somebody else besides ourself," he said.

For the Bulldogs, it is a whole new team traveling down to the Coliseum.

"It's a big test there's no question about it," Tedford said.

Those new faces are headlined by senior quarterback Jorge Reyna, who will make his first collegiate start less than 15 miles from where he played high school football.

"He's worked really, really hard to be in this position. He's had a really good camp. It's going to be really important for him just to understand to do his job and not try to do too much," Tedford said. "I'm excited for him and we have a lot of trust in him so I think he'll be just fine."

Tedford has faith in Reyna, so too do his players who this weekend voted him one of the four team captains.

"When you get voted a captain, it means the team has your respect," Tedford said.

Speaking of respect, Fresno State once again not getting any on the national scene. Despite winning 21 of their last 25 games, including a 12-2 campaign, the Dogs will enter Saturday as a 13 and a half point underdog.

"I don't really care about the points spread. We're going in to play a great football team. We have a lot of respect for the venue, the Coliseum," Tedford said. "It wouldn't matter if we were favored or not favored. We're going out to play football one play at a time and give it our best effort and see what happens."

Fresno State is looking for the program's first win against USC since the 1992 Freedom Bowl.

Despite leaving Cal as its all-time winningest coach, Tedford was 0-6 in his meetings against the Trojans in LA.

You can watch the game on August 31st at 7:30 pm on our sister network, ESPN.