Lamont Shamberger could have had No. 26 all to himself at UC Davis this season, but the sophomore cornerback switched to No. 7 as soon as it became available. Shamberger wore No. 7 for three years at Serra High School in Gardena, then got No. 16 in 2022 at Benedictine College in Kansas and No. 26 at UC Davis last year.

The one catch to Shamberger having his favorite number again is he will have to share it with senior quarterback Miles Hastings. Shamburger and Hastings are among the 44 players who share numbers. That group includes the three players who are sharing No. 15. Twenty of the 22 shared numbers go from No. 2 to No. 28.

Lamont Shamburger

Keeping track of all the shared and swapped numbers is one of David Collins’ tasks in his first year as director of athletic communications at UC Davis. He joked that the game of musical numbers has already become “the bane of my existence.”

Shamberger would have taken any number at UC Davis to get out of Kansas, where the weather was a far cry from Southern California. “I didn’t like the cold, but I had to sacrifice to get where I’m at,” said Shamburger, who left California for the first time to go to Benedictine and prove he was worthy of a Division I scholarship.

Benedictine is a NAIA school with an enrollment of 2,465 , so Shamburger gained a season of college experience with losing a year of NCAA eligibility. He is now one of nearly 41,00 students attending UC Davis. Shamburger has yet to declare a major.

Shared numbers are nothing new in college football given that FBS teams can carry 85 scholarship players along with non-scholarship players and walk-ons. FCS teams such as UC Davis and Sacramento State can have 63 scholarship players as well as a few more who are paying their own way to be on the roster.

Fairfield High graduate Desmond Bishop wore No. 10 as a linebacker at Call in 200 and did not share it with a walk-on freshman. Running back Marshawn Lynch. NFL also wore No. 10. NFL scouts could tell them apart in the 2007 draft. Lynch was the 12th overall pick by the Bills and Bishop went in the sixth round to the Packers.

Elijah Tau-Tolliver

Rumor has it that quarterback Aaron Rodgers lobbied the Packers to do whatever it would take to get Lynch so the two former Golden Bears could be reunited. By the way, Rodgers was a senior at Cal in 2004 and shared No. 8 with a freshman. Seniority is worthless when there are only so many numbers for so many players.

Sacramento State will have 21 shared numbers this season with the first being 0 (if 0 is actually a number). Senior running back Ezra Moleni (No. 6) will be the only senior to share a number with a freshman. Moleni will likely have No. 6 to himself because nickelback Carter Kraft from Helena (Mont.) High will probably redshirt.

In addition to shared numbers, there are players such as Shamburger who change numbers as soon as the one they prefer is available. Shamburger perused the roster after joining the Aggies and noticed No. 7 belonged to linebacker Evan Tattersall, a graduate student who finished second on the team in tackles with 70.

A popular number at Sacramento State is No. 4. Running back Cameron Skattebo had it in 2022, when he was the Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Year after running for 1,382 yards. He managed to get No. 4 again after transferring to Arizona State. Skattebo led the Sun Devils in rushing last season with 788 yards.

Skattebo shared No. 32 as a freshman at Sacramento State because No. 4 was shared by seniors Isaiah Gable and Taylor Powell. Gable had No. 4 to himself in 2019, then shared it after Powell arrived from Northern Arizona. The Hornets did not play in the spring of 2021 after the 2020 season was wiped out by COVID-19.

Senior linebacker Armon Bailey, a Vanden High graduate, swapped No. 30 for No. 4 as soon as Skattebo departed. After Bailey graduated, running back Elijah Tau-Tolliver grabbed No. 4 after wearing No. 25 the past two seasons. The junior is in line to start for the Hornets after playing behind Skattebo and Marcus Fulcher.

The parting gift for Fulcher in his final season was having No. 9 to himself.