CSUN NOTEBOOK: BROWN'S GAME GETS KICK-START.

Derek Brown's smile is back. All it took was three swift kicks. The Cal State Northridge junior kicker connected on a career-best 44-yard field goal and made both of his PATs in a 30-17 season-opening loss at Northern Arizona.

For Brown, it was cause to celebrate. He struggled last year, prompting CSUN coach Jeff Kearin to recruit two new kickers. He retained the starting job after a solid camp.

``That (game) was real important mentally,'' Brown said. ``It helped me out a lot. Now my confidence is back. That was all I needed to get back from last year.''

Brown made 7 of 13 field goals last season and just 31 of 38 PATs, the lowest percentage among Big Sky Conference starting kickers. He also missed an extra point in overtime against Idaho State. Had he made it, the teams would've gone into double overtime.

But Kearin said Brown has had his best camp in his three seasons. And he believes in him.

``Coming off last year, Derek was Derek's biggest enemy,'' Kearin said. ``He needed to be confident in knowing what he could do. He had a great camp and gave us all, certainly myself, a tremendous amount of confidence in him. I felt if we got the ball to the 25, I had absolute confidence in his ability to kick a field goal.''

Brown said he made small changes in his steps in the offseason but nothing significant. It was the addition of Ernie Romero, who handles punts and kickoffs, and Mike Blackwood that have helped in Brown's success.

``If anything, that made me work harder,'' Brown said. ``They helped a lot because they're all good, especially because they're junior college transfers.''

--No pain, no gain: CSUN had a grueling week of practice as a result of a disappointing loss to the Lumberjacks. The Matadors had a bye Saturday, so practice was tough all week. The coaching staff tried to instill a more disciplined work ethic. And plenty more running at the end of practice.

``We went after them,'' Kearin said. ``I wanted the team to juice up a little. Our biggest challenge is to take the most fundamental skills that we do in practice over there and transfer them to (game day). I don't think we did that against NAU. We wanted to simplify our stuff.''

--New quarterback: Southwest Texas State quarterback Reagan George had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee Tuesday. He injured the knee in Southwest Texas' season-opening 52-7 win over Arkansas-Monticello. Redshirt freshman Cody McCauley played quarterback in Southwest Texas State's 40-6 loss to Missouri on Saturday. The Bobcats, who played without four starters, had just 116 yards offensively.

Seventeen Bobcats players were suspended by the NCAA before the season opener for misusing scholarship money. Twelve players were suspended for one game and five for two. The suspensions are spread over the first four games, meaning some players will serve their suspensions in Southwest Texas' game against CSUN at North Campus Stadium on Saturday.