The article below originally appeared on MercuryNews.com and is being reprinted with permission.

The Facebook page for the College of San Mateo football team has been releasing sneak peeks at the new football field, which will host its home opener Sept. 14 against Chabot.

CSM associate head coach Tim Tulloch is excited for the current batch of Bulldogs who will call College Heights Stadium stadium their home in the fall.

“It’s great for all the current players who get to be the first ones to play on the field,” Tulloch said. “It’s a top-of-the-line field. It’s the same field that Cal just installed at their place, it’s the same one Baylor has and the Dallas Cowboys have.”

There are a couple of personal touches, with the most noticeable the massive Bulldog at midfield.

“Bigger than Utah’s, bigger than anyone they’ve done,” Tulloch said the installers told him. “It’s like a 20-yard-wide Bulldog right on the middle of the field. It goes almost hash-to-hash and almost 40-to-40. So it’s outstanding.”

There’s also a message to CSM’s alumni.

“We always stand on the shoulders of those that came before us,” Tulloch said. “So on the side of the field facing the stands, and it’s such a neat deal, it says ‘Once a Bulldog, always a Bulldog’ in big letters. It’s honoring the tradition of the past with the next generation of guys.”

• The Blue-White scrimmage is scheduled for the third Saturday in August. On display will be a fine-tuned squad, if the coaches get their way.”Maybe 10 years ago, we would have installedthe offense or the defense over summer for most of the returning guys and when freshmen would get there in August, you kind of would reinstall everything,” Tulloch said. “All of our freshmen are with us now, so we started in June. We’re in the process of installing everything and really getting ready for the season.”
• The quarterback competition includes Willy Fonua, who led Menlo-Atherton to the CCS Div. I final in 2011. But don’t expect the coaches to announce a starter anytime before kickoff in the season opener.”You’ll find out in Week 1, because we really have no idea,” Tulloch said.
• CSM’s class of 2013 is expected to have its 33rd player sign on the dotted line to play at a four-year program relatively soon. But the focus is already on last year’s freshmen, including 6-foot-7, 315-pound offensive lineman Dominick Jackson, who has more than 30 offers on the table and has verbally committed to Alabama.”We’ve got a bunch with early offers,” Tulloch said.

San Jose State has expressed interest in defensive back Deshane Hines and defensive lineman Hanitelli Lousi.

Washington, Missouri and Kentucky have offered defensive lineman Rika Levi. The secondary has drawn plenty of suitors, with Izaiah Skelton (Hawaii), Joseph Turner (Washington State) and Sam Atoe (Arizona) already on the radar.