OGDEN — They've taken Weber State to two straight FCS playoff appearances, won a share of the Big Sky championship in 2008 and kept the Wildcats in the national rankings.
Now, with one last season to play at Weber State, the Wildcats' tiny senior class is hoping to take the program to new heights.
"Like I've said before, anything less than a national championship and we've underachieved," said quarterback Cameron Higgins. "That's what our mindset is now and we're going to keep thinking like that."
The Wildcats thinking in those terms would have been laughable when Higgins and other senior standouts, such as linebacker Taylor Sedillo, safety Jordan Brown and defensive end Sam Fenn, first stepped on campus. Fenn, a rare athlete recruited out of Enterprise High, had reservations about attending Weber State.
"When I first got recruited, I looked at the season before and they were like 1-10 or something," Fenn said. "I had some relatives that knew a little bit about the program that were kind of worried for me. But overall we've done a complete 180 turn. We're always one of the top contenders in the conference."
The Wildcats, picked to take fourth in the Big Sky in preseason polls, will again contend for the Big Sky title. But to do that they'll need their 11 seniors to step up with big plays and leadership.
Higgins, the Big Sky's Offensive Player of the Year in 2008, has embraced his new leadership role, and he has two great deep threats at receiver to throw to in seniors Mike Phillips and Joe Collins. Senior running backs Vai Tafuna and Zac Eldridge will join him in the backfield.
Sedillo, Fenn and Brown will anchor their respective positions on defense. There will also be senior starters at cornerback in Faron Creighton and at offensive tackle in Kevin Halfill.
"They've won a lot of games here, taken us to back-to-back playoffs, won a championship for us in '08," coach Ron McBride said of his seniors. "They're the ones who turned it (the program) around and they expect to win. They know the expectations here are a lot different."
Sedillo, Phillips and Eldridge — along with junior guard J.C. Oram — were named to the Big Sky's preseason all-conference first-team. Sedillo was a first-team all-conference pick following his junior season in which he recorded 100 total tackles.
"He's the best linebacker in the league," McBride said.
Individual accolades are nice, but the Wildcats know they'll be better remembered if they can get Weber State an outright conference crown and into the national semifinals for the first time in school history. A national title wouldn't be too bad, either.
"I don't think there's really a limit (to what the Wildcats can accomplish)," Fenn said. "We set goals to win national championships. All we have to do is remember those goals and work day-by-day and week-by-week to achieve them. Right now, we're not playing for a championship. You've got to work your way there and as long as we take care of steps on the way we can be national champions."
e-mail: aaragon@desnews.com