CSUN NOTEBOOK : VICTORIES BRING NEW ENERGY TO MATADORS.

Bryant Eubanks did not want to get left out. Not on the field, not off the field.

Such is the frame of mind on the Cal State Northridge football team this season. It's positive peer pressure that has scout-team players behaving like kamikaze pilots in practice and scholarship players working as if their lives depended on it.

``No quitters'' could be the slogan.

``They talk about you,'' Eubanks said of what happens when a player doesn't try his hardest. ``And when we hang out, we talk about the football program. And if you don't have anything to bring to the table, you feel left out.''

Coach Dave Baldwin's biggest peeve about the 2-8 1995 season was that the Matadors quit during losses. Often, players would stay out the rest of the game after suffering an injury that should have sidelined them for a series at the most.

Eubanks, now a sophomore defensive back, is the first to admit he was one of the offenders. The third game of Eubanks' college career was the worst loss in Northridge history, 68-7 at Northern Arizona. Some time in the middle of the game, Eubanks suffered an injury the cause or location of which no one can remember. But it was enough for him to not play the rest of the night.

``I was very shocked,'' Eubanks said of how difficult last season was. ``Toward the middle of the season, I was really tired. You get tired easily when you lose. I would go out there and by the time it was the second quarter and we're losing 34-0 you don't want to play any more.''

The story of Eubanks' newfound toughness is indicative of why the Matadors are 2-1 and feeling 3-0.

``It is a new attitude,'' Baldwin said of the bravado permeating his team. ``They know if they stay out too long they're battling to get back in. They're all playing hurt, and they know they have to play hurt. Minor bruises, you have to play with in this game.''

Winning helps.

``Winning feels good,'' Eubanks said. ``We don't want to come out. I'm out there, and I love it.''

Nonconference game: There has been some confusion about this point, but the official word is that games against new Big Sky Conference member Portland State do not count in the conference standings.

Portland State, making the move from Division II, must first satisfy a two-year probation period before becoming eligible for postseason play. The conference feared that if Portland won the regular-season title, the Big Sky would lose its automatic playoff berth. This applies to all sports.

Thus, Northridge's home game against the Vikings on Oct. 5 is officially a nonconference game.

Coming around: Playing powerful teams such as San Diego State, USC and Arizona, the young Matadors women's volleyball team began the season 0-8. But its tied for first place after its first two games in the Big Sky Conference - a three-game sweep at Portland State and a five-game victory at Eastern Washington.

``We knew (the preseason) would be pretty tough,'' said junior outside hitter Amy Gillis. ``We've been working toward conference. We're starting to get used to each other.''

Northridge, which hosts fellow first-place team Montana State tonight at 7 p.m. today and Montana (1-1) at 7 p.m. Saturday, was led over the weekend by its foreign transfers. Junior Getty Dimitrova from Bulgaria had 26 kills against Eastern Washington. Nancy Ma, a sophomore from China, had 22 kills and 22 digs against Eastern Washington and 14 kills and 13 digs against Portland State.

``We kind of expected to get beat up in the beginning,'' Northridge assistant coach Kathleen O'Laughlin said. ``We knew by the time we got into conference we would have already seen everything. We've seen the toughest teams in the country.''

Busy Bobby: Men's basketball coach Bobby Braswell and his two sons have been living in a dormitory on campus.

``I have a new appreciation for what my wife does,'' said Braswell, who has been rising early to get 10-year-old Jeffery and 5-year-old Christopher off to school before going to work himself.

His assistant coaches have helped out by occasionally picking up the boys from school and football practice while Braswell is out recruiting.

Braswell was hired in April, and his wife Penny and infant daughter Kyndal did not arrive in Northridge until Wednesday. The family plans to move into its new house in Northridge today.

While the dorm life has been a little cramped for Braswell, Jeffery and Christopher have been having a blast.

``The boys love it,'' Braswell said. ``They think it's like Disneyland.''

Easy money: The football team is done making money - ``robbing'' is what the Matadors called their victory Saturday at New Mexico State, for which they earned $75,000 and a level of respect that cannot be appraised - for the athletic department. So let's talk about what the basketball team's contribution will be in the upcoming season.

Braswell's team will gross Northridge a total of around $65,000 for games at UNLV (Nov. 23), UCLA (Dec. 3) and Iowa (Dec. 29).