• Fresh off a disappointing loss in the final seconds last weekend, the TSU Tigers return to action on the road at Cal on Saturday at 5 p.m. in Berkeley, Calif.
• Saturday's contest will feature live audio on KTSU 90.9 FM and will be shown live on ESPN+.
• This marks the first-ever match-up against a team from the ACC for TSU.
• TSU returns to the West Coast for the first time since 2008 as they played in Sacramento, Calif. against Shaw University. The TSU Ocean of Soul Marching Band will also be in atteandance on Saturday.
• TSU's history on the West Coast is limited but this marks the fourth time the team will play in the state of California. TSU's inaugural match-up in the state was against San Diego State in 1968. TSU has played in San Diego twice and Sacramento once.
• TSU head coach Cris Dishman started his coaching career in 2006 at Menlo College in nearby Atherton, Calif. and spent time with the Oakland Raiders in 2007 as part of the NFL's minority coaching fellowship.
• Cal is 9-12 all-time against teams from the state of Texas. Cal is 1-0 against the SWAC all-time as they hosted Grambling State in 2015. They've played in the city of Houston twice against Rice and the University of Houston.
• Even though Cal's football history is limited with TSU, the teams have a basketball history with each other as the teams have played each other five times (5-0 Cal) (1993-96). Cal has traveled to Houston twice during that span.
• TSU has seven players from the state of California and one (Jamaal Cherry) from the Bay Area (Santa Clara).
• TSU had three players earn preseason All-SWAC Second Team honors in Trent Leary (WR), Damarcus Thompson (DE) and Jeremy Ramirez (P).
• After several years of offseason changes to the coaching staff, the Tigers finally had stability this offseason with no changes.
• TSU was picked to finish fourth in the SWAC during the annual SWAC Preseason Poll. TSU returns four offensive starters and two on defense.
• Injuries took a major toll for TSU last year as several key players return after season-ending injuries suffered during the Labor Day Classic in linebacker Jacob Williams and quarterback KJ Cooper. Two years ago, Williams was TSU's first 100-plus tackler since 2004 while Cooper led TSU to a Labor Day Classic win in 2024.
• Cris Dishman is the 18th head coach in the history of Texas Southern Football. Dishman inherits a tough task as the program has only had 28 winning seasons in 78 years of existence and hasn't recorded a winning season since 2000.
