A week after getting stunned with a 43-30 loss to unranked San Joaquin Delta, the No. 5-ranked College of San Mateo Bulldogs have to reload for one of their biggest nemeses of a year ago.

No. 8 American River pays a visit to College of Heights Stadium Saturday at 1 p.m. And the Bulldogs hope to be as inhospitable hosts as the Beavers were a year ago.

On Oct. 4, 2014 — while San Francisco Giants slugger Brandon Belt was etching his place in postseason lore with an epic 18th inning home run to defeat the Washington Nationals in Game 2 of National League Division Series — American River was putting the finishing touches on a 24-14 drubbing of CSM.

The Bulldogs entered last season’s Week 5 matchup ranked No. 1 in the state. But that all changed after they suffered their first loss of the season. The Beavers’ catalyst was now-graduated sophomore quarterback Tanner Trosin, who gained 244 total yards.

“I thought they played OK,” CSM defensive line coach Dave Heck said. “We just couldn’t tackle their damn quarterback.”

Three current sophomore defensive linemen played in that game for CSM, and are intent on not allowing a repeat performance. The stern core three defensive tackles feature some size in 6-2, 290-pound Fou Polataivao and 6-1, 285-pound Anthony Ameperosa; but laying his claim to the third starting tackle position is the stealthier 6-2, 260-pound Cody Brown.

“[Brown] is a pretty strong kid pound for pound,” Heck said. “If you’re going up against linemen who are 6-6, 340 pounds, you’ve got to have good technique. He’s a good technician.”

One of five Serra alumni on roster at CSM, Brown is anticipating American River as again posing a matchup that will define the course of the season.

With Trosin having transferred to Southern Oregon Universeity, American River is now helmed by sophomore quarterback Jihad Vercher. A more prototypical pass-intensive quarterback than was the dual-threat, mad-dashing Trosin, Vercher ranks 12th in the state with 1,027 passing yards while having thrown just one interception through four games.

Like Vercher, Brown wasn’t a starter in last year’s game. The Pacifica native saw approximately one quarter of playing time. But he has started every game for the Bulldogs this season.

“They’re a playoff team … so it is definitely a big game for us,” Brown said.

Brown arrived at CSM in 2013, he greyshirted behind a trio of Division-I talent. All three 2013 linemen transferred to D-I programs, with Rika Levi going to Texas Tech, Trevor Kelly going to Cal and Pio Vatuvei going to Louisville.

The structure of the defensive line has changed since the 2013 season, when Levi, Kelly and Vatuvei each had their roles set in stone. This year, Heck is depending on more versatility from his middle three, which he often pairs down to two. With CSM having surrendered 104 points through four games thus far, the chemistry is still a work in progress.

Brown is coming off a modest performance against Delta, but totaled two sacks in CSM’s pervious three wins, a mark that currently leads the team. The consensus among the Bulldogs, however, is that they stunk against Delta.

“We got outcoached and outplayed, period,” CSM head coach Bret Pollack said. “We got flat out beat.”

The Mustangs jumped out to a 16-0 first-quarter lead — much in part to CSM committing turnovers on each of its first two possessions — and Delta was able to hold off the Bulldogs from there.

“They had their best game, we played our worst,” Brown said. “It was definitely a wakeup call.”

The first-quarter disaster actually could have been worse. The Mustangs scored touchdowns on each of their first two possessions, then drove downfield a third time and into the red zone to earn first-and-goal from the CSM 3-yard line. Delta ultimately settled for a field goal, specifically because on the bullish defense of sophomore inside linebacker Peter Tuipulotu — another one of CSM’s five Serra alumni.

The inside linebacker position has been mired by an identity crisis thus far, according to linebackers coach Matthew Taufoou. But Tuipulotu made a case for himself as a go-to guy with two goal-line stops.

“Any time we stop a score, it’s important,” Taufoou said. “So, those were definitely big stops.”

The highlight of the two came on second down, as Delta opened a hole through the middle. Mustangs running back Evan Owens had a field day in the game, rushing 24 times for a career-high 188 yards. But when he darted towards end-zone daylight, Tuipulotu rushed to plug it, hitting Owens for no gain at the 1.

“Our job is to win the 1-on-1 battles, and that’s what happened,” Tuipulotu said.

Tuipulotu and Brown were teammates for four years at Serra, and are now in their third year together at CSM. Both are now sophomores after taking greyshirts in 2013. The other Serra alumni are freshmen inside linebackers Tyson Terreros and Daniel Lavulo, and freshman defensive back Nick Maka.

“We’re all really tight,” Brown said. “We’ve been playing together forever.”