Two of Fresno State’s top defensive stars say the Bulldogs are striving to tighten things up Saturday night against FCS opponent Southern.

Though the Bulldogs made stops at opportune times in last week’s victory at Oregon State, the defense surrendered 528 yards.

Senior linebacker Jadon Pearson said the Bulldogs’ gameplan revolves around containing Southern quarterback Cam’Ron McCoy, who has rushed for 183 yards in three games. Stopping the run and forcing the pass is the game plan, Pearson said.

“That’s what good defenses do, they limit the run game. It’s trust the dudes behind me to cover their guys, and when he steps up, or if he rolls out, then it’s a track meet, and I just have to trust my teammates are going to see the same thing I do,” Pearson said.

Pearson leads the nation in tackles with 34 after three games — something he didn’t know until his mother told him.

“It’s a pretty cool feeling. I put a lot of work in, I do a lot film studies, and then it’s just a lot effort plays that it kind of boils down to when you used to play youth football. You just see the ball, just go get it,” Pearson said.

Defensive lineman Jahzon Jacks said the Bulldogs defense is getting to where it needs to be.

“We are making baby steps every week, but there’s a lot that we have to do to improve. We still have to step up a lot of stuff and still execute everything. We’re striving for perfect. When you strive to perfect, you settle for excellent,” Jacks said.

Jacks wants the defense to limit explosive plays. His sack last week of Oregon State QB Maalik Murphy snuffed out a red zone drive, forcing a missed field goal.

“It just happened to be my play to make and just happy that I’m able to just make the play for the team and just give us a better chance at winning,” Jacks said.

Pearson’s Path to the Bulldogs

This is Pearson’s first year with the Bulldogs, a senior transfer from Utah State. His new teammates voted him captain.

Pearson said he learned a lot at his time with Utah State, Reedley College, and Air Force.

“I was always watching film with dudes who were better than me that are in the NFL right now. I was learning from vets. So I feel like that really helped me progress a lot faster once I got the opportunity to be in a position to play,” Pearson said.

From Gilbert, Arizona, Pearson played his freshman year at Air Force, but said he could not keep up with the academics. He transferred for his sophomore year to Reedley, and then to Utah State.

He earned his bachelor’s degree at Utah State, but his coach told him, even with one year of eligibility remaining, he would unlikely see playing time.

He thanked the coaching staff: “I can’t get mad at honesty or anything like that. I appreciate that coaching staff. They poured a lot into me.”

Fresno State was familiar and the right fit, Pearson said.

“I knew the tradition and the standard here. I already had a relationship with coach J.D. Williams, who recruited me out of Reedley. As soon as I knew I wanted to transfer, I wanted to come here,” Pearson said.

The Band is Out on the Field

Southern’s band, the Human Jukebox, is so renowned that Fresno State is promoting its halftime performance.

Unfortunately, that is the only scheduled performance for the band in Fresno.

“What makes the Human Jukebox so special is the diverse musical catalog,” band director Kedric Taylor told GV Wire. “Fresno can expect to see music in motion, from our dynamic drills to our phenomenal sound.”

The Human Jukebox also performed at the Super Bowl last February.

Fresno State is offering discounted tickets here, using the code “Band25.”

Bulldog Bites

The Bulldogs are offering free tickets as part of Heroes Night to active duty military, veterans, and active duty first responders. Tickets are available at the Bulldog Ticket Office at the Save Mart Center (Friday hours: 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.).

As part of Heroes Night, the Bulldogs will wear special white helmets, with the Bulldog script logo in the motif of an American flag. The green “V” logo on the back of the helmet will include an eagle.

This is the first time Fresno State has hosted an HBCU team. The Bulldogs have won 19 straight against FCS opponents.

Southern’s co-offensive coordinator Fred McNair is the older brother of late former NFL star Steve McNair, and the original holder of the “Air” McNair nickname.

Southern has several Californians on its roster, but none from the Central Valley.

Head coach Matt Entz said his team is three-deep at long snapper. Wesley Brown is the starter, with Jack Baldi listed as the only backup. Last week, Oregon State started its backup, with no one with experience behind him leading to several missed snaps.

This Week in the Mountain West/future Pac-12

All times Pacific

Friday

New Mexico (1-1) at UCLA (0-2), 7 p.m., Big Ten Network (Carlo Jimenez, Brock Vereen)

Saturday

Washington State* (2-0) at North Texas (2-0), 12:30 p.m., ESPNU (Chuckie Kempf, Darius Walker)

Oregon State* (0-2) at No. 21 Texas Tech (2-0), 12:30 p.m., Fox (local: KMPH Fox 26) (Tim Brando, Devin Gardner)

Middle Tennessee (0-2) at Nevada (1-1), 2 p.m., Nevada Sports Net/ Mountain West Network streaming (Alex Margulies, Lucas Weber, Shannon Kelly)

No. 20 Utah (2-0) at Wyoming (2-0), 5 p.m., CBS Sports Network (Rich Waltz, Robert Turbin)

Air Force (1-0, 0-0 MWC) at Utah State (1-1, 0-0 MWC)§, 6:45 p.m., FS1 (Trent Rush, Petros Papadakis)

Texas State* (2-0) at Arizona State (1-1), 7:30 p.m., TNT (JB Long, Mike Golic Jr.)

Portland State (0-3) at Hawai’i (2-1), 9 p.m., Spectrum Sports/Mountain West Network streaming (Kanoa Leahey, Rich Miano)

Off: UNLV, Boise State, Colorado State, San Diego State, San Jose State

*2026 Pac-12 member not currently in the Mountain West; § MWC game; most announcer info from 506 Sports.