Four is a coveted jersey number at Sacramento State. Running back Cam Skattebo wore it in 2021 and 2022 before transferring to Arizona State. Senior linebacker Armon Bailey snatched it in 2023 and junior running back Elijah Tau-Tolliver waited for Bailey to graduate in 2024 so he could grab it.
Tau-Tolliver got No. 4 after transferring to Michigan State this season, but he is sharing it with junior linebacker Marcellius Pulliam. Tau-Tolliver also shared it in 2024 with sophomore linebacker Nakian Jackson at Sacramento State. Skattebo had No. 4 all to himself for two years as did Bailey in 2023.
Junior safety Koa Akui wears No. 4 this season and might have had dibs on it as one of the few returning players for the Hornets. New head coach Brennan Marion overhauled the roster by using the transfer portal to land 50 players. More than half of the newcomers come from FBS programs.
Akui came to Sacramento State in 2022 from Hilo High in Hawaii with the Hornets on a serious roll. They shared the Big Sky Conference championship in 2019 and won it outright in 2021 by going 8-0. Akui redshirted in 2022 when the Hornets were 8-0 again in the Big Sky and won a school-record 12 games.
His jersey number was 29 in 2023 when Akui played in seven games and the Hornets were 4-4 in the Big Sky. The 2024 season ended for Akui after he sustained an arm injury in the opener at San Jose State. He did not miss much with Sacramento State going 1-7 in the Big Sky and 3-9 overall.
Changing to No. 4 this season has changed Akui’s luck. He is a starter in the secondary with three transfers – senior Kaleb Higgins from Cal, sophomore Ricky Lee III from Alabama-Birmingham and redshirt sophomore Warren Smith Jr. from Washington State. Akui only lacks the FBS pedigree.
Akui does have a new claim to fame after being announced Monday as the Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week. He is just the 10th Sacramento State player to win the defensive award in the past 10 years. Three players did so in 2024. Bailey, a Vanden High graduate, won it twice in 2022.
The award was well-deserved for the 5-foot-10, 188-pound Akui after he intercepted two passes in last Saturday’s 20-17 loss at Nevada. Akui has been involved in the Hornets’ four takeaways in two games. He forced a fumble and recovered another Aug. 30 in the 20-3 loss at South Dakota State.
Sacramento State fans will get their first look at the 2025 team on Saturday when the Hornets host Mercyhurst at 6 p.m. The first two of three consecutive home games will feature new opponents. Central Arkansas will follow Mercyhurst, the first Pennsylvania team the Hornets have ever played.
Junior Cardell Williams will start at quarterback for the Hornets, but redshirt sophomore Jaden Rashada will also play after starting the first two games. Rashada was injured in the first quarter last Saturday on a play in which former Hornets safety Murvin Kenion III was ejected for targeting.
Williams was 11-of-14 for 158 yards and one touchdown. The Tulsa transfer threw one interception and it was costly. Nevada’s Jonathan Maldonado returned it 36 yards for a touchdown with 2:17 remaining. The Hornets had just enough time to mount a comeback and nearly pulled it off.
Four completions by Williams for 58 yards ignited a drive that put the Hornets in a third-and-3 at the Nevada 9-yard line. Williams then dashed to the end zone only to have the touchdown nullified by a penalty. The Hornets scored again from 13 yards out, but another penalty erased those six points.
Sophomore Grant Meadors was left with a 42-field goal to tie it, but the Oregon transfer’s kick was wide left. Little has gone right for the Hornets, but a home victory could change the course of 2025.
