SAN JOSE — Fresno State played its last Mountain West Conference football game Saturday night, and took home the Valley Trophy as a parting gift.

The Bulldogs played old-school — a strong defense, a rushing attack spread out among several runners, and the occasional big play — in a 41-14 victory at San Jose State.

The Bulldogs (8-4, 5-3 Mountain West) will play next in a yet-to-be-determined bowl game. The Spartans (3-9, 2-6) concluded their season.

Fresno State moves to the revitalized Pacific-12 Conference next year. San Jose State remains in the Mountain West, but the two teams will meet several times over the next few years as non-conference foes.

Six Bulldogs rushers combined for over 200 yards. The defense forced five turnovers — all interceptions — against a cast of Spartans quarterbacks and neutralized the Spartans star wide receiver, Danny Scudero.

ANOTHER ONE! 🤯

📺FS1 pic.twitter.com/uJh297mSvH

— Fresno State Football (@FresnoStateFB) November 30, 2025

Warner Gets the Start

Quarterback E.J. Warner started for the Bulldogs in a week when head coach Matt Entz said he was unsure who his QB1 would be. And just when the old Warner reemerged, the senior shook it off.

Warner completed 10 of his first 12 passes and seemed to find his rhythm. Then it happened again — he threw to the wrong team. This time, Jordan Pollard took the ball back 42 yards for a pick-six. It was Warner’s 11th interception of the season in nine games. He also lost a fourth-quarter fumble, his fourth of the year. Pollard excelled throughout the game, finishing with 12 tackles.

Fresno State then ran nine straight plays on the next two drives — including running back Bryson Donelson fumbling the ball away. But SJSU couldn’t convert, missing a field goal.

Warner, with an empty backfield, connected with Josiah Freeman for a 37-yard touchdown. Freeman then took an end-around for the 2-point conversion for a 21-7 lead in the second quarter.

The defense provided Warner and the offense with three turnovers, including an interception from Al’zillion Hamilton. The senior cornerback guarded the Spartans Biletnikoff Award semifinalist  Scudero most of the night, shutting him down. Scudero finally broke free in the fourth, with a 36-yard reception.

Ethan Tierney prevented the 37th yard, and a possible touchdown with a hard goal line hit. The Spartans scored three plays later.

A Strong First Half

Until Warner’s interception and Donelson’s fumble, the Bulldogs rolled.

After an opening three-and-out, the defense gave the Bulldogs excellent field position on the next three drives. A poor Spartan punt set the Bulldogs up at the SJSU 35 for their second drive. They settled for a 34-yard Dylan Lynch field goal.

The next two Spartan drives resulted in back-to-back interceptions by Simeon “No Panic” Harris that led to another Lynch field goal from 41 yards. Hamilton followed with a pick on a tipped pass. It was the fourth interception for both Harris and Hamilton. Warner needed only five plays to go 37 yards, capped by running back Brandon Ramirez barreling in from 2 yards out.

Tami Amisone started at quarterback for the Spartans in place of the injured Walker Eget. After the two interceptions, Robert McDaniel relieved him in the second quarter. One drive later, Xavier Ward replaced McDaniel.

The Bulldogs were officially eliminated from Mountain West title game contention Friday, when New Mexico defeated San Diego State in overtime. With Boise State and UNLV also winning, the Mountain West has a four-way tie for first place.

Mountain West Madness

After the weekend’s games, the Mountain West championship matchup won’t be known until Sunday.

A four-way tie at 6-2 among San Diego State, Boise State, New Mexico and UNLV leaves the decision to the computers. The conference said it will release the computer results — and the title game matchup — by 8 a.m. Pacific time Sunday.

The first tiebreaker among three or more teams — head-to-head record or a sweep — didn’t resolve the issue.

The second tiebreaker — either ranking in the most recent College Football Playoff or the average ranking of four computer polls — will determine the two teams playing Friday in a 5 p.m. kickoff on Fox. Since no Mountain West teams were ranked in the CFP poll, the Connelly SP+, ESPN SOR, KPI and SportSource rankings will decide.

Heading into this week’s games, San Diego State ranked highest in the three publicly known polls (SP+, SOR and KPI), followed by UNLV, Boise State and New Mexico.

The two highest-ranked teams in the computer average will then be matched through the two-team tiebreaker to determine the host. Here are the possibilities:

• San Diego State vs. New Mexico: New Mexico hosts.
• San Diego State vs. Boise State: San Diego State hosts.
• Boise State vs. New Mexico: Boise State hosts.
• San Diego State vs. UNLV: the computer rankings will decide.
• Boise State vs. UNLV: Boise State hosts.
• New Mexico vs. UNLV: New Mexico hosts.

Where Will the Bulldogs Go?

Seven Mountain West teams qualified for bowl games (minimum six wins), including the Bulldogs. The conference champion will play in the L.A. Bowl on Dec. 13. The other six teams will likely play (in order of date): Potato Bowl (Dec. 22 in Boise); Frisco Bowl (Dec. 23 in Frisco, Texas); Hawai‘i Bowl (Dec. 24 in Honolulu); First Responder Bowl (Dec. 26 in Dallas); Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl (Dec. 27 in Tucson, Arizona); or the New Mexico Bowl (Dec. 27 in Albuquerque, New Mexico).

ESPN will have a role in deciding who plays where. Decisions will be announced Sunday, Dec. 7. While logic would suggest home teams play in their home bowls (for example, Hawai‘i in the Hawai‘i Bowl or New Mexico in the New Mexico Bowl), it doesn’t always work that way.

Logic would also suggest a team wouldn’t play in the same bowl two years in a row. Fresno State played in the Potato Bowl last year. The best guess: sipping gin and juice in Tucson.