CSUN NOTEBOOK : NORTHRIDGE SET FOR NEXT STEP.

As Cal State Northridge football coach Dave Baldwin said Saturday after his team faltered only in the fourth quarter and lost to defending I-AA national champion Montana:

``We stood up to the national champions and played totally killer.''

And:

``A year ago you wouldn't have thought we'd be playing with the national champions.

And:

``We're a junior team. We come back with a lot of people.''

And:

``I think people believe in Northridge all of a sudden.''

Yes the Matadors did. And no we wouldn't have. And yes the Matadors are. And yes people do.

The Matadors lose receiver David Romines, safety Steve Standifer and little else to graduation. But will the improvement continue at this rapid pace? Are the playoffs in Northridge's near future?

Montana defensive coordinator Jerome Souers, the Grizzlies' acting coach Saturday, is tepid about the idea. He is impressed with the Matadors. But he has seen this before.

``Our model is a lot the same,'' Souers said, referring to the fact Montana had a bad stadium, bad fan support and a bad football team not so long ago.

But Souers predicted rough times ahead.

``It'll be harder next year for them, getting over the second hump,'' he said. ``. . . The games are a little harder when people hold you in high regard. People are going to respect them. They damn-well better respect them.''

It's all good: First-year men's basketball coach Bobby Braswell knows there are people who will look at the results from football and expect the same improvement from his team.

There will be folks, Braswell knows, who will not consider that he was hired at the end of last spring's recruiting period. They won't consider he will go through this season what Baldwin went through last season, familiarizing himself with his players and with his players familiarizing themselves with him. And they will wonder what is wrong if his team does not make the same type of dramatic improvement that football has. (And it probably won't.)

It doesn't bother him. Braswell is, in fact, delighted with the football team's success.

``What the baseball team did, what the volleyball team is doing, what football is doing proves (Northridge) can get it done,'' he said. ``Particularly the success of football.''

Different team: Women's basketball coach Michael Abraham thinks of his team's early-season schedule, and he cringes. Long Beach State. Oregon State. San Jose State. Fresno State.

``What was I thinking?'' he said, laughing.

Abraham thought he would have three starters that won't be there.

Suzy Gyarfas, a 6-foot-8 center from Israel, has still not taken the SAT in Israel and will likely not attend Northridge.

``My guess is we are not going to get her,'' Abraham said of one of his prized recruits. ``Normally these things are wrapped up quickly. Because of how this (her not taking the test) has drawn on, I don't think it's going to happen.''

Also questionable for this season is Neda Milic, another foreign player who helped form the nucleus of a recruiting class that was ranked 19th in the country. Milic, a 6-1 guard from Serbia, is hampered by lingering knee problems. She has not been practicing regularly with the team, instead working out with weights trying to strengthen the knee. Milic, who had major surgery more than a year ago in Serbia, will attempt to play ``as much as possible'' in the beginning of the season.

``We'll see if the knee holds up,'' Abraham said. ``If it is bothering her, we're going to redshirt her.''