MATADOR NOTEBOOK: CSUN MOVES FORWARD.

Byline: Chris Branam Staff Writer

There they were Saturday: Marcus Brady, Jaumal Bradley, Aaron Arnold, Brennen Swanson and Chazz Moore.

The doubts have been erased. The core of players who led the Cal State Northridge football team to second place in the Big Sky Conference last season all reported to the first full-squad practice in preparation for the upcoming season.

The disappointment of losing head coach Ron Ponciano and offensive coordinator Rob Phenicie was nowhere to be seen when the Matadors worked out for about 90 minutes in the afternoon sun.

Some of the practice was ragged, but the players were vocal and already itching for full-contact drills, which won't start until Wednesday.

This kind of focus and optimism can be traced to several players-only meetings in the last month. Bradley, a senior fullback who was a first-team All-Big Sky selection last season, helped organize the meetings in the aftermath of Ponciano's firing in July.

``Some of the talks we had were so energetic,'' said Bradley, who was voted a team captain. ``There was a lot of emotion and a lot of compassion.''

The first meeting, Bradley said, was the toughest. A few key players, including Aarnold and Marcus Brady, had talked openly about transferring in the weeks leading up to Ponciano's departure.

``We pulled everybody to the table and asked them (where they stood),'' Bradley said. ``It was a serious, emotionally draining meeting.''

Marquis Brignac, a freshman running back from Taft High and one of CSUN's top recruits, said he was ``skeptical'' about coming to CSUN after Ponciano was fired. But he was turned around after meeting players such as Bradley, Swanson - a senior linebacker who had 15-1/2 sacks last year - and Sean Beard, the starting noseguard.

``Now I have something to prove,'' Brignac said. ``I'm getting back into the flow of football.''

Brady, who was the Big Sky's Newcomer of the Year in '98 as the Matadors' starting quarterback, had fleeting thoughts of transferring during the tumultuous week when it appeared Ponciano wasn't going to return. But he pledged his support to the program and reported Friday.

``My home is here,'' said Brady, a sophomore. ``This is where I wanted to be.''

Tackled by academics: Mel Miller, a senior who was scheduled to start at cornerback, is academically ineligible and won't play this season.

Jake Ashabraner, a 320-pound redshirt freshman offensive lineman, didn't report Friday and head coach Jeff Kearin assumes Ashabraner quit the team.

CSUN lost two newcomers Thursday night when Cameron Stewart and Jeff Connick also quit after participating in just two practices. Both players were junior linebackers who played at Hancock College last year.

Hanging in there: The plan to build a new 1,500-seat softball stadium at CSUN, which stalled last fall, isn't dead. In fact, private donations to build the ``Field of Dreams'' complex have reached the $750,000 mark, head softball coach Janet Sherman said last week.

``We're still alive,'' Sherman said, adding she hopes for groundbreaking in June 2000.