SAN DIEGO – San Diego State Football returned to the practice fields for the 12th day of fall camp. The Aztecs, wearing helmets and upper body pads, competed during a perfect, sun filled morning with temperatures reaching the high-70s. After their usual meetings, the players filled the first half of practice with pops & circuit drills as well as a team compete section where the offense and defense faced off in exercises with the winners given hydration popsicles as a reward. On the grass field the focus shifted to live action with the offense and defense playing against one another in various situational setups including a 1-minute drill with the offense looking to drive the ball down the field. The day came to an end with freshman wide receiver and San Diego native Carson Diehl making a contested, touchdown catch in the back right corner of the endzone sending his offensive teammates into a frenzy.
During the 2025 season the Aztecs secondary was a critical piece of one of the most dominant defenses in the nation. SDSU gave up the sixth fewest passing yards per game, posted the sixth best scoring defense, was tied for the third best red zone defense and was also tied for the 14th most interceptions across all of FBS. The Aztec’s safeties, led by coach C.J. McGorisk, accounted for seven interceptions, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.
McGorisk now leads the safety room featuring 14 players, half of whom are new to The Mesa. The Wixom, Michigan native has established himself as a young, up and coming defensive mind who has spent time in the Pac-12, Mountain West, Big 10 and ACC. Before joining the Aztecs, he served as a quality control coach for the University of Washington’s defense that earned a College Football Playoff berth as the No. 2 seed, a Pac-12 Championship, and a perfect, undefeated 12-0 regular season.
Despite being tasked with melding both a group of returning players and new faces, McGorisk is happy with the bonds beginning to form amongst his position group.
“We have some new faces, some old faces, and all those guys are really coming together. It's really fun to see the connection that we're building within the safety room, and then across the defense and across the team as a whole. Because at the end of the day the most connected teams are going to win, and that's something that coach Lewis has fostered the last three years and each season, and our guys are continuing to build upon that connection…A rising tide lifts all ships. So as each guy starts to compete, it's an iron sharpens iron mentality. One guy's going to make a play; it's going to challenge the next guy to make a play, and that's just been a continual effect, snowball effect, to continue to elevate that room with a lot of talented players.”
Knowing that he will likely deploy three players at any given time across the “free”, “nickel” and “bullet” safety positions McGorisk spoke about the versatility he requires his players to master as they continue to compete for starting jobs and roles in the rotation.
“We're going to put the best 11 on the field, playing the 4-2-5 structure. We are playing with five DBs [defensive backs], obviously. Coach Sum [defensive coordinator Demetrius Sumler] is going to call different calls and use different guy's skill sets when we put our best 11 out there. Corners are generally better cover guys. Nickels got to do a little bit of everything, and that free safety and that bullet safety get to run the show back there with our communication, and they got to be able to fit the run, play the pass as well. But we're going to ask for all five of our DBs be it corners, nickels, free or bullets, all to fit the run when they need to fit the run, and then all to cover when they got to cover. You got to be able to do everything back there.”
One of the new players that has begun to play at a high level amongst the Aztec’s secondary is transfer Isaiah Green. Green joins San Diego State after starting his career at Portland State. In 2024 during his redshirt freshman season, Green saw action in 11 games while starting in seven contests. He compiled 50 tackles to go along with three pass breakups and an interception. As a sophomore he played in 12 games with 100 total tackles, four tackles for loss and forced a fumble while earning a selection to the Big Sky Honorable Mention Defensive team.
Green recorded a pick-six during the “First Saturday at Snapdragon” scrimmage over the weekend and has flashed as a viable member of the Aztecs secondary. Yet, he spoke highly of the bond forming among the safeties despite the constant competition for earning a role on the defense.
“I think we definitely take it all in as a brotherhood. I feel like there's no outlier within our group. For example, we just added a new freshman, Rahmeer Henderson. He just got in right before fall camp started but he was already like a brother to us. We try to lift him up wherever we can. We try to bring up the younger guys with as us the vets, and we hang out whenever we can. We hang out around the facility, we go get food, we eat together and break bread. I think that that helps us a lot and builds our character…Everyone has a competitive edge to him. You know, whenever you come out here, you play hard. Everyone wants to be the guy, but everyone knows what their role is, and coach just brought it up the other day that we need to have competitive maturity. It can be a lot having other guys who can compete for that starting spot and it's a big thing. It definitely elevates the room and brings the standard up each and every single day and makes us all elevate and get better.”
Green also made note that facing his teammates on the offensive side of the ball has helped him adapt to the FBS level, particularly when facing off against starting quarterback Jayden Denegal.
“He's a great quarterback. I mean, playing against him every single day in practice, it definitely makes me better because he's a big quarterback. He's smart. He knows his progression. We'll be in the locker room or at lunch and he'll be asking me “hey, what did you think on this play when you saw this or, when you saw me do this, what did you think we always try to pick each other's brains. Playing against JD [Jayden Denegal] is a blessing. It's an opportunity, knowing that we're playing against such a talented quarterback, and it just it makes everybody better…He's definitely talented with his arm. He could rush; he could throw it. He's good at reading the defense, and he knows where his routes are, knowing where his reads are, where his hot zones are, who he can get the ball to, and what situation we’re in. I think he's a very smart, intelligent quarterback. Obviously, his arm is a big thing, and he can extend plays with his legs too.”
The Aztecs now turn their attention to the 13th practice of fall camp tomorrow. The first game of the season will be a home matchup against the Vikings of Portland State on Saturday, September 5. SDSU’s home slate also includes a non-conference game on Sept. 19 against James Madison (7 p.m. PT), and Pac-12 home matchups with Texas State (Oct. 3 at 7:30 p.m. PT), Fresno State (Oct. 17 at 7:30 p.m. PT), Washington State (Oct. 31 at 4 p.m. PT) and Utah State (Nov. 14 at 6:30 p.m. PT).
Fall Camp Recaps
8/5/2026 Fall Practice Recap
8/6/2026 Fall Practice Recap
8/7/2026 Fall Practice Recap
8/11/2026 Fall Practice Recap
8/12/2026 Fall Practice Recap
8/13/2026 Fall Practice Recap
8/14/2026 Fall Practice Recap
8/17/2026 Fall Practice Recap
Ticket Information
Season Tickets
Season tickets remain the best value for Aztec football at Snapdragon Stadium. Season ticket pricing has been lowered across the board to make tickets more affordable and accessible for the loyal fans and community. Fans are encouraged to purchase season tickets through San Diego State, which start as low as $175 ($150 plus $25 Aztec Club Membership), only $29.17 per game. This shift supports SDSU’s focus on strengthening local connections and building a gameday atmosphere worthy of the program’s next chapter. PURCHASE SEASON TICKETS
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The four tickets can be purchased for $76 (plus fees), which includes parking (a combined $125 value). Additional seats can also be purchased for $20 apiece (plus fees). The four available games at Snapdragon Stadium include the Sept. 5 opener against Portland State at 6:30 p.m. PT, the Sept. 19 game vs. James Madison at 7 p.m. PT, SDSU’s inaugural Pac-12 game on Oct. 3 against Texas State at 7:30 p.m. PT and the final home game of the season on Nov. 14 vs. Utah State at 6:30 p.m. PT.
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