November 14, 2014

Thur sday, November 13, 20 14

E s t abl ished 19 16

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How can you tell if an ID is fake?

Brooke Sperbeck Students fake it ‘til they make it with fake IDs.

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alking up to the door of SLO Brew, Cal Poly senior Amy Jones* was confident she’d memorized everything the bouncer might question on her fake ID. “I was expecting him to ask me when I was born, or where did I live, stuff like that,” Jones said. “But he just looked at it for a while, he bent it, looked at the front and back. He looked back at me, and he just knew it was fake.”

Jones is one of many Cal Poly students who has gotten a fake ID taken away.

“I was very understanding and he told me, ‘You can either walk away or wait here until the cops come to check your ID,’” Jones said. “So choosing the smart decision, I walked away.”

As a senior who doesn’t turn 21 until May, Jones felt the pressure from her friends to use a fake ID. She already ordered another ID — two copies for $150 — from an on-

@BrookeSperbeck7

line manufacturer in China and is waiting for it to arrive.

“Every single week, it’s always like, ‘Amy, get a fake,’ ‘Amy, when’s your ID coming?’ or ‘Amy, we need to find a girl who looks likes you,” Jones said.

As an experienced fake ID user, Jones knows which places will accept one. Her former fake ID worked at Marston’s and Bull’s Tavern before it was taken.

“I’m definitely more cautious of places that I’m going — SLO Brew is off my list,” Jones said. “Probably Frog and Peach — I’ve heard it’s not as hard, especially because I have friends who know a door guy, so that will help.”

Whether it’s Mother’s Tavern, Bull’s Tavern or SLO Brew, most San Luis Obispo bars are known for upholding strict security protocols in pursuit of catching college students with fake IDs. “Students are used to getting away with their ID in their hometown, then they bring it to SLO and they think the same kind of laid-back approach to people not really checking their IDs is going to happen,” said Tyler Wojtowicz, a political science senior

and doorman at Mother’s Tavern.

Wojtowicz estimates he’s checked approximately 30,000 IDs in nearly two years as a doorman. By now, he’s familiar with the telltale signs someone is using a false form of identification, whether it’s a fake ID or someone else’s ID. When he works the door, Wojtowicz looks to see if the ID is overly faded or bleached white. He’ll study the person’s ears, nose, chin and forehead to see if those features match with the picture.

Avoiding eye contact is another sign someone might be lying about their ID. As a final test, Wojtowicz asks people for their signatures to verify identification.

“If the signatures don’t match up, then it’s pretty evident it’s not their ID because signatures are like fingerprints,” Wojtowicz said. “They’re pretty unique to that person.”

Mother’s Tavern is not the only bar that takes extra measures to verify students’ IDs are real.

see FAKE ID, pg 3.

‘In search of the frightening and beautiful’: Find it at the University Art Gallery

IAN BILLINGS | MUSTANG NE WS REIGNING CHAMPS | The Cal Poly men’s basketball team will look to repeat as Big West Conference champions and earn another NCAA Tournament birth.

Countdown to tip-off Mustang News Staff Report @CPMustangSports

After a remarkable season that featured a Big West Conference Championship and the first NCAA Tournament victory in program history, expectations for the Cal Poly men's basketball team are high.

The Mustangs return most of their squad, but the loss of Chris Eversley, Jamal Johnson and Kyle Odister will be tough to overcome.

Four seniors are featured on the squad this year: guard Malik Love, guard Michael Bolden, forward Anthony Silvestri and forward Alberto Ganis, who is eligible to make his debut for the Mustangs after sitting out last season as an international transfer.

Also returning is junior guard David Nwaba, the team's most proven offensive weapon. Nwaba was 59th in Division I field-goal percentage last year at 52.6 percent.

Junior forward Joel Awich also returns to the court this season.

Awich terrorized the post last season, leading the Mustangs with 31 blocks. He is already eighth in Cal Poly history with his career total of 44 blocks.

The Mustangs struggle on the road in season-openers, going just 2-9 in their last 11. Last season, they faced No. 5 Arizona and held tough in a 73-62 loss. The Mustangs are 2-3 in season openers under sixth-year head coach Joe Callero.

The Mustangs travel to Nevada on Nov. 15 for their season-opener. The game is set to start at 3 p.m.

Nick Larson contributed to this report.

HEATHER JOHNSON | COURTESY PHOTO RIDE OF HER LIFE | Artist Heather Johnson took to the road on her motorcycle looking for inspirational material for her artwork.

Will Peischel @CPMustangArts

The likes of cultural characters such as Chris McCandless and Jack Kerouac are admired and immortalized in our society for their bravery and romanticism. They fell off the grid of conventional living to pursue their dreams and explore the great North American expanse. Their adventures were already considered unorthodox in their respective times — and in 2014, they would be plain crazy.

Enter Heather Johnson: artist and adventurer.

What’s even wilder than journeying across the landscape by motorcycle in the 21st century searching for beauty in non-permanence? Using Indiegogo to achieve that goal.

Johnson’s works are featured in Cal Poly’s University Art Gallery through Dec. 5. The extent of her exhibit, In Search of the Frightening and Beautiful, includes photographs and watercolors, but what really epitomizes her off-kilter lifestyle are the embroideries.

According to gallery coordinator Jeff van Kleeck, these pieces are unique in the fine art world.

“Well, the other thing is that a lot of her work is embroidery,” he said. “When you think of that, you think of your grandma making pillows. These are far from that. It uses a technique that’s not associated with fine art most of the time. When you look at them, some are amazingly complicated. Some of it is mind-blowing.”

see GALLERY, pg 4.

News... 1-3 | Arts... 4-5 | Opinion... 6 | Classifieds... 7 | Sports... 8

Thursday, November 13, 2014

NEWS | 2

JOSEPH PACK | MUSTANG NEWS

LOOKING BACK | Retired aerospace engineering professor Dan Biezad shared his memories of the two Cal Poly graduates involved in the crash of SpaceShipTwo. Biezad was close with pilot Peter Siebold.

Remembering the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo crash Hannah Avdalovic Special to Mustang News

Michael Alsbury always wanted to be a pilot.

That’s what retired aerospace engineering professor Dan Biezad remembered of the nowdeceased Cal Poly graduate.

“He was more pilot than engineer and he just really wanted to fly, but he was a really great engineer and also a

really good student,” Biezad said.

The crash Alsbury died in the crash of SpaceShipTwo, the Virgin Galactic spacecraft that crashed during a test flight this past month. The craft’s other pilot, 41-year-old Peter Siebold — also a Cal Poly graduate — survived after parachuting to safety but sustained severe injuries.

Alsbury was in the copilot seat

while Siebold was in the pilot seat during the crash.

Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo was expected to carry tourists into space by mid-April. The fare would have been $250,000.

The investigation initially revealed that a new fuel mixture used in the flight might have caused the crash. It was the first time it was used in test flight. But according to a statement from Virgin Galactic

on Nov. 4, that possible cause was disproved.

“The NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) has recovered the intact engine and rocket propulsion fuel tanks with no signs of burn through or mid-air explosion,” the statement read. “This definitely dismisses the premature and inaccurate speculation that the problem was related to the engine or the fuel.”

There was also an issue with the feathering mechanism — a device that turns the tail booms, or side wings, in order to ensure smooth re-entry. According to the statement, the lever activating the wing booms was pulled prematurely and could have caused the crash, but it also states it is too soon to assume this was the sure cause.

The full investigation into the true cause will take at least

a year, NTSB acting chairman Christopher Hart said in a New York Times article.

Remembering the pilots Both Alsbury and Siebold graduated from Cal Poly’s aerospace engineering program, Siebold in 2001 and Alsbury in 1998.

Professors Biezad and Faysal

see REMEMBER, pg 3.

NEWS | 3

Thursday, November 13, 2014 FAKE ID continued from pg 1.

The Library, Frog and Peach and a half-dozen other bars all share the same owners as Mother’s Tavern, and these establishments’ doormen become certified through a training process called Licensee Education on Alcohol and Drugs (LEAD), Wojtowicz said.

If a doorman believes someone is using a fake ID or another person’s ID, he or she will text law enforcement officers to assist with the situation.

“Most of the time SLOPD is outside, and we’re required to hand over any kind of fraudulent ID to law enforcement,” Wojtowicz said.

San Luis Obispo Police Department (SLOPD) Captain Christopher Staley says his department primarily comes into contact with people using fake IDs in one of two ways — getting into bars and buying alcohol at liquor stores.

Though students will get caught using other people’s IDs, most of SLOPD’s encounters

REMEMBER continued from pg 2.

Kolkailah both described the pilots as hard-working, memorable students when they were at Cal Poly.

“I’ve been here 31 years and I teach 100-120 students a year,” Kolkailah said. “I do not remember everyone in my class from the past 31 years, but I definitely remember them.”

Alsbury got his job at Virgin Galactic as a flight test pilot and flight test engineer after graduating from Cal Poly in 1998, Biezad said.

“He was ambitious and highly competent and very outgoing,” Biezad said.

Alsbury was also a husband and a father of two children.

deal with fake IDs. “Most of the time we see ones that are manufactured now,” Staley said. “The manufacturing has gotten pretty good.

I know some of these IDs are pretty believable to look at, there’s some very slight modifications.”

Once SLOPD resp onds to someone reportedly using a fake ID, Staley recommends people “be mature and deal with the situation like an adult.”

“Sometimes we’ve had people who have tried to run. That can obviously make it worse,” Staley said. “We have people where they want to get confrontational, which is obviously not the best route to take.”

Guy Galambos, a criminal defense attorney at Stein, Casciola & Galambos law firm in San Luis Obispo, agrees that it’s best to be respectful when being questioned by law enforcement.

Some people don’t realize they have the right to remain silent when being questioned by officers.

“They will make it seem like

if you don’t say anything the case is going to get worse,” Galambos said. “Most of the time they’re looking for some admission or confession on the suspect’s part before they’ve got a good enough case to prosecute it.”

Galambos estimates one or two of his four to six monthly clients need assistance with fake ID charges.

“Certain months it’s more prevalent than others,” Galambos said. “The very beginning of school year seems to be a perfect time — especially Week of Welcome and weeks that follow — seems to be a time when local law enforcement puts a lot of effort in.”

There are three possible charges officers may use to prosecute someone who uses a fake ID: a business and professions code charge for presenting false evidence of age, a vehicle code charge for using a fake driver’s license and a felony charge of false personation. Though a felony is the rarest form Galambo sees, it’s also the most serious.

“If they think you were using

someone’s license and trying to act or be that other person, there’s a felony charge of false personation,” Galambos said. “It’s almost like identity theft.”

All three charges can include hundreds of dollars in fines, depending on the situation. A vehicle code charge can also revoke the person’s driver’s license privilege for a year.

“Sometimes if we’re trying to preserve their ability to drive, we can do plea bargaining with the prosecutor and just get a different charge as opposed to the original charge,” Galambos said.

Though Galambos recommends students not use a fake ID if they don’t want to get in trouble, he advises students who do use them to be smart.

“The best advice I would give someone would be just to know your rights,” Galamabos said. “If you get into the situation where someone is accusing you a of a crime, you don’t want to make it worse.”

Scaled Composites, a subset of Virgin Galactic, has dedicated an area on its website where people may donate money to Alsbury’s family.

Siebold has remained relatively close with the department. He once met with Biezad’s students who visited Virgin Galactic.

“He would take us aside and show us some special things, get the students some special briefing and a little insight on what was happening that they wouldn’t get from the newspaper,” Biezad said. “The students always loved it.”

Siebold got a job with Virgin Galactic before he finished his senior project, Biezad said.

Biezad worked closely with Siebold on the project, which

consisted of building an orbital flight simulator. When Siebold’s workload at Virgin Galactic was not as heavy, Siebold came back to finish his project. This proved how dedicated he was, Biezad said.

“It was such a privilege to know him,” Biezad said. “I’ve been teaching since the 1980s and I would put him in the top three of my students for initiative, talent, cooperation and just being generally good-natured.”

When Biezad heard about the crash, he immediately wondered if he knew those hurt.

“My immediate thought was, ‘Did I know the pilots?’” Biezad said. “I was more emotional. I spent so much time working on (the senior project) with

him. I became more and more involved and he was more than just another student in my class.”

Kolkailah said he was deeply saddened by Alsbury’s death and Siebold’s injuries. In the past, the faculty has tried to reach out to families of deceased graduates to see if there is anything they can do, he said.

For Kolkailah, how he felt about his students, including Alsbury and Siebold, went beyond the normal student-teacher dynamic — it was a deeper connection.

“Those who graduate here are like your kids,” Kolkailah said.

“They are like my kids, and it hurts.”

*Editor’s note: The name of this source has been changed.

Thursday, November 13, 2014

ARTS | 4

To her, there is symbolism in a correlation that bike parts have to the human anatomy.

“When you’re riding a bike, you’re one with the bike — moving through space,” she said. “It becomes part of your own body, or at least that’s how I see it.”

Johnson perceives a unique tension between the act of embroidering and riding.

“The embroidering is methodical and slow,” she said. “The other is flying — it’s fast, and fluid.”

Johnson’s gestures are important, but to her, they aren’t what the project is really about. The real value is in the experiences she has, and in extension the act of leaving something of her own behind — and the experiences that object could have itself.

IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT MOVING THROUGH SPACE AND TRAVELING, IT’S ABOUT MAKING THESE CONNECTIONS VICARIOUSLY WITH STRANGERS THROUGH THESE GESTURES HEATHER JOHNSON

GEORGIE DE MATTOS | MUSTANG NEWS AN ARTISTIC GESTURE | Johnson leaves pieces of art at sites that resonated with her. She said they are gifts to the landscape and the people she met there.

GALLERY continued from pg 1.

What’s even more mind-blowing is that the tiny, 100 lb. artist rode a motorcycle across the continent — often without much direction — to find inspiration for her work. As she passes through man’s impressions in the scape, she leaves gestures in the places that resonate most with her.

“I made art projects, many of them in the spirit of exchange, and left them all over the country,” Johnson said. “Pieces of myself that I left all over in places that range from strip mines to earthworks and sculptures — grand gestures in the landscape. Things that have been marked permanently in the landscape by humans. To mark those myself by leaving, making a gesture to leave behind, for anyone to take.”

Unusually, most of those gestures come in the form of embroideries that feature motorcycle parts. However, Johnson has her reasons.

“It’s not just about moving through space and traveling, it’s about making these connections vicariously with strangers through these gestures, and that’s why it’s really important for me to continue outside of this country, in other contexts,” she said. “I like building these bridges in between. I don’t know if the focus is on the object; the object ends up in the landscape. The focus is on the relationship rather than the object itself.”

More and more, Johnson’s experiences have stemmed from the expected rather than the unexpected.

She recalled a time when she stumbled upon two donkeys tied up by a cave near Real de Catorce in the Mexican state of San Luis Potosí.

Naturally curious, she went snooping around. On her way out, she was approached by a man.

“He started to speak to me, not in any kind of aggressive way, which frequently happens in the U.S. because of how we think about property here,” she said. “He was really nice to me; he asked me if I wanted a donkey ride.”

Naturally, Johnson left a gesture near the cave in hopes that he would find it.

Through experiences like that, Johnson realized that her project relies more on flexibility than on structure. For that reason, her third and upcoming trip to South America will be more a stream of consciousness than ever.

With that in mind, she hopes her free-form adventure will present more additions to her project, A Journey and Project in Progress.

Thursday, November 13, 2014

ARTS | 5

The Coffee Snob: The jumper cable and other rejuvenations Annie Vainshtein @annievain

Last week I talked about my very unique experience with Death Wish Coffee, the Fox News-approved and supposed “strongest coffee in the world.” But while the half-cup served for an exciting and emotionally intimate experience, I recognized that not all of us have Amazon accounts.

For some of you, I know that can be hard to believe. At least it is for me. But I’ve decided to remedy the situation by proposing a local and feasible alternative — and it’ll only cost you $3.25.

Jumper cable. For most of us, those two words do nothing more than remind us of the wonderful NPR program “Car Talk” or of flashing yellow, red and black colors.

But the jumper cable at BlackHorse is none of these. It could be considered the jungle juice of the establishment; it’s extremely caffeinated and also tastes really good.

I usually have a high tolerance for caffeine, but the jumper cable defies all limits. It surpasses my emotional intelligence, sense of self-worth and general motor skills.

If this is starting to sound scary, fear not.

The jumper cable is a force to be reckoned with, but it has a story, too.

The fairy tale takes place at Black Horse on Foothill Boulevard, at around 3 p.m. on a Sunday. The main character: Annie, an unsuspecting and utterly naive girl looking for a quick fix. The villain: A 16-ounce, iced and beautiful jumper cable, suggested to her by an optimistic and credulous barista.

The order was placed, and what ensued was total chaos. But it didn’t start out that way.

The story commences with the first of four stages: elation, manic depression, existentialism and peace.

The villain was disguised with a sweet, creamy and refreshing flavor. I took a few sips, and I was in heaven. It was so good I may have drunk it a little too fast, leaving little time to fully prepare for the only out-ofbody experience to rival Death Wish Coffee.

I was 8 ounces in and immersed in vivid hallucinations, a good portion of which included Teletubbies. (Sidenote: I’m actually concerned about that and whether or not there are psychological implications).

I was elated, confident and the best Samaritan I could be. Everything was pure happi-

ness and I was invincible. I frolicked home like Little Red Riding Hood, holding a basket of statistics homework that was calling my name. I pet three or four dogs on the street, held the door open for my fratty neighbors and even looked for jobs online. After about 5 minutes of exuberantly scouring Craigslist personals, I started to feel something. And it was dark.

Then came the gloom. I could think of few confounding variables, but I felt so, so sad. Tears filled my eyes when my roommate asked me to take out the trash, and as I walked down the stairs to the dumpster I realized they were streaming down my face — I was sobbing.

I had never felt so insecure — it had nothing to do with trash, dumpsters or even compost, and everything to do with the active liquid inside of me. It was the puppeteer and I was the emotionally broken puppet who still hadn’t finished her statistics homework.

The next phase was short. After I washed my hands and recycled the empty jumper cable cup, I had a series of subsequent and pressing logical thoughts. Who was I? Was my future certain? Does free will exist? As the great Friedrich Nietzsche said, “To live is to suffer, but to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering.”

So I tried to find some meaning. Why was

THE VILLAIN WAS DISGUISED WITH A SWEET, CREAMY AND REFRESHING FLAVOR. I TOOK A FEW SIPS, AND I WAS IN HEAVEN. I feeling so weird? I had a pretty good week, supportive friends and a generally solid BMI. Could it have been the jumper cable?

All signs pointed to yes.

I was wide awake for the next 15 hours, silently contemplating my wreck of a day. But then I realized something: The enemy was not the jumper cable, but rather who it let me become. Will I get a jumper cable again?

Maybe. Will I drink it in 10 minutes? Definitely not.

I urge you to try the jumper cable — it’s not quite mushrooms, but it comes pretty close.

If you want to take a deeper look at your psyche or shake all night, it’s your gal.

JOSEPH PACK | MUSTANG NEWS JUMPIN’ | Don’t be fooled by its sweetness — BlackHorse’s jumper cable should be approached with caution.

Thursday, November 13, 2014

OPINION | 6 MUSTANG NEWS Graphic Arts Building Building 26, Suite 226 California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo, CA 93407

How our votes affect you Zachary Antoyan @CPMustangNews

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Thursday, November 13, 2014 ©2014 Mustang News

“ If it’s an employee, is it arson?”

Zachary Antoyan is a political science senior and Mustang News liberal columnist. These views do not necessarily reflect the opinion or editorial coverage of Mustang News.

Last week, millions of Americans participated in a national bubble fill-in ritual.

We sign our signatures, walk to a desk and darken circles next to the names of people we probably haven’t met and propositions that no one completely understands. It’s a relatively popular ritual; the sticker we get after the sphere-coloring provides quite the incentive for participation.

When I say “we,” what I really mean is: myself, angry Republicans and old people. Those are the people who voted this midterm election. So when I also say “relatively popular,” what I really mean is that voting isn’t very popular at all — at least not among college students or people my age. I know this because less than 10 percent of that demographic are registered to vote in this county. But I’m sure you had a perfectly good excuse not to vote.

Either way, here we are with a new set of voter-approved laws and new representatives on the municipal to the national levels. So this is how the decisions made by other people are going to affect you in the next few years.

The 0.5 percent sales tax continuation initiative, Measure G, passed with little opposition.

This means all that road construction you’ve seen on streets is going to be demarcated with

a “Your Measure G Dollars at Work!” instead of Measure Y. You still pay the same amount of tax at register, no different than before.

In the race for city council, Dan Rivoire won a seat, meaning the number of San Luis Obispo city council members under the age of 60 went from zero to one. This is good for you, not only because he is a Cal Poly alumnus, but because you now have someone representing your age group, or at least, an age group within your generation. If all the council members are older than your parents, something is wrong, so be glad we changed that.

On the state level, we reelected Jerry Brown for governor. Full disclosure: I didn’t know there was a gubernatorial race going on, which probably speaks to the campaigning job of the challenger. More Jerry Brown means … well, just that we have more Jerry Brown.

We’ve already had 11 years of the guy, so a few more is whatever, right?

Lois Capps narrowly won reelection for her U.S. Congressional seat, representing this county and a few others. However, considering the national congressional climate, her reelection means Democrats have another seat that they can do very little with. More on that in a little bit.

People also seem to be taking notice of the water problem the whole state is experiencing.

And in true American-Capitalism fashion, our solution to this problem is to throw money at it. Fear not citizens, for the passage of Proposition 1 means billions of dollars can now be directed toward solutions. Which

also means that billions of dollars can now be directed to the hands of those that control the water resources.

With the passage of Proposition 2, though, California is going to start saving more of its general funds for “rainy days,” which is funny because California doesn’t actually have rainy days anymore. Our referential idioms are very out of date.

For those of you contemplating or currently committing non-violent crimes that could be considered felonies, chill out. Now it’s just a misdemeanor. Or hey, if you’re in jail currently reading this (thank you, but also, why?) then you should know that you can petition to have your sentence reduced.

The passing of Proposition 47 means you can now be less sketched out over the personal use of illegal drugs. But we college students don’t have any time for those sorts of things, because responsibility and midterms and things.

The pendulum of political power has thus, after this election, swung in favor of the Republicans. After all was said and done, the Republican Party emerged with seven new seats in the Senate, giving them effective control of both houses of Congress.

Though Republicans are as inept at using such influence as the Democrats are, this shift in power will make for some interesting tactical decisions made by both sides in the next two years. It’s important to note that “the GOP has waged this campaign without altering a single one of the major political positions that supposedly doom the party to demographic oblivion.”

This means that its stances on immigration, gay marriage,

the true progressive health insurance, women’s reproductive rights and a host of other issues have not changed.

This is significant because it says more about the electorate than it does about the party. An electorate frustrated by stagnation on the national stage, between and within branches, would naturally desire a change in leadership. But Republicans have been waiting for this day like it’s freaking Christmas Eve and will now attempt to push through all the legislation that a Senate controlled by Democrats wouldn’t allow. According to House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, the Affordable Care Act is on that list, even though 50 failed attempts to repeal the law is somehow no deterrent at all. Also on that list is the Keystone XL pipeline.

But Americans hoping to see any forward progress at all, any sort of advancement in policy that would break the stagnant streak that has plagued our

government for so long, will be dismayed to know that both sides are as entrenched as ever.

With Obama threatening to use his executive power to force immigration reform and Boehner counter-threatening to close off talks about immigration in general, we will see nothing but more of the same.

Basically, anything that one group did previously, the other group is going to now do the opposite. There simply is no better example of partisanship than this. And the pendulum keeps on a-swingin’.

The votes have been cast, and the balance of power restructured. Whether or not you added your input into the cauldron of politics, we all get to sit back and watch the thing fly or go down in all its flaming glory.

This is Zachary Antoyan, unfortunately and recently acutely aware of how ranty he is here.

Future employers, I’m not as crazy as this, I swear. Have a good week, everyone.

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Thursday, November 13, 2014

SPORTS | 8

BATTLE for the

GOLDEN HORSESHOE CAL POLY HOSTS 40TH INSTALLMENT OF THE UC DAVIS RIVALRY Rafael Salinas @CPMustangSports

Last week’s 30-28 loss at Idaho State put the Cal Poly football team in a precarious position, dropping its Big Sky Conference record to 5-2 and hurting its chances of a conference title.

There are four teams above the Mustangs in the standings with just one conference loss.

For Cal Poly to contend for the title, all those teams will need to lose this weekend, and the Mustangs need a win against rival UC Davis on Saturday.

Head coach Tim Walsh addressed the distance between Cal Poly and the Big Sky title.

“When (the team) set their goals for this year, they were to win the Big Sky, go to the national playoffs and keep the Golden Horseshoe in San Luis Obispo,” Walsh said. “In reality, all three are alive, although one of them is a huge stretch, obviously, but the big thing is beat UC Davis to be 6-2 in the Big Sky and the best we could possibly be right now.”

After speaking with Walsh and senior linebacker Nick Dzubnar, it’s clear they know their fate and seem prepared to do all they can

to make their case for a national playoff berth.

“It’s UC Davis,” he said. “If you can’t get excited to play your rival, then don’t show up.”

Dzubnar also said he’s expecting to crush UC Davis so the Mustangs can show FCS how they really play.

The Aggies are last in the Big Sky after going 0-6 in conference play this year. However, following the tough loss, the Mustangs seem very intent to not take their opponent lightly but also enjoy some catharsis from winning a rivalry game.

“In reality, (UC Davis) have probably played one bad game and that was against Montana State,” Walsh said. “They’ve been extremely competitive in all their games and could easily be 5-2 right now as easy as they are 0-6.”

Conference games are always tough, but the Battle for the Golden Horseshoe adds more fuel to the fire for both teams. The Mustangs stand to gain an FCS playoff berth from winning out the rest of the season, while the Aggies will just play for pride.

Dzubnar, one of the team captains, knows no team can be taken for granted, regardless of its record.

He acknowledged that the strengths

for the Aggies are in the offensive line and their powerful senior running back, Gabe Manzanares.

A cause for concern is the health of the Mustangs, especially this late in the season. When asked about injury concerns, Coach Walsh jokingly responded, “Well, how much time do you have?”

Junior quarterback Chris Brown rushed the ball 39 times last game, an astonishing amount.

Many times, Brown came up hobbling and grimacing in pain.

Walsh said he would be getting plenty of rest this week and that he will be ready to go on Saturday; however, the trainers described it by saying, “It’s like he was in a car accident.”

Despite injury concerns and a critical loss at the hands of Idaho State, Walsh and the Mustangs are focusing on the renewed rivalry with the Aggies.

“In my opinion, college football is the most important thing,” Walsh said. “We need to play a great game, whether we’re playing UC Davis or Sacramento State this weekend. We need to win.”

The Battle for the Golden Horseshoe is set to begin at 6:05 p.m on Nov. 15 at Alex G. Spanos Stadium.

IAN BILLINGS | MUSTANG NEWS LOCKDOWN | Junior defensive back Chris Fletcher (above) and the rest of the Mustangs’ defense will look to shut down UC Davis in the Battle for the Golden Horseshoe in Alex G. Spanos Stadium.