Valparaiso (3-3, 2-1 PFL)   at   San Diego (2-4, 1-2 PFL)
Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026  •  1 p.m. PT  •  Torero Stadium  •  San Diego
Watch: ESPN+  (Jack Cronin and George Whitfield Jr.)   |   Social: @USDFootball

LAST TIME OUT: BUTLER 41, SAN DIEGO 10

• Elijah Taylor caught six passes for 100 yards, his third straight 100-yard game, but Butler ran for 262 yards and five touchdowns in a 41-10 win over San Diego on Oct. 10 at the Bud and Jackie Sellick Bowl in Indianapolis.
• Dom Nankil completed 28 of 42 passes for 295 yards, and the Toreros ran 69 plays to Butler's 53, picked up 19 first downs to the Bulldogs' 17 and won time of possession for the sixth straight game, 31:23 to 28:37.
• Cole Monach caught five passes for 79 yards, and his 38-yarder on third-and-10, the longest catch by a Torero this season, set up Emiliano Salazar's season-long 44-yard field goal in the first quarter.
• Omar Mbakwe caught a 30-yard touchdown pass from Nankil on fourth-and-9 early in the fourth quarter, his fourth touchdown of the season and first through the air. Salazar averaged 46.7 yards on three punts with a long of 50, his best average in a game this season.
• San Diego came away empty on three trips inside the Butler 20: a 14-play, 72-yard second-quarter drive that ended a yard short on fourth-and-goal, a missed 36-yard field goal and a fourth-quarter march to the 6.
• Sean Scheck made 2.5 tackles for loss, including a sack — the most tackles for loss by a Torero in a game this season — and Jae'Von Reels added 1.5. David Loch, Ian Harrison and Cayden Gibson shared the team lead with five tackles apiece, and Ezekiel Swayne broke up two passes.

CASTILLE NAMED PFL DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

• The Pioneer Football League named CJ Castille its Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 4 after the sophomore cornerback intercepted two passes — the first two of his career — and returned one for a touchdown in San Diego's 63-14 win over Davidson.
• He made the first on the opening play of the second quarter at the Davidson 38, returning it 10 yards, and the Toreros scored two plays later to go up 28-0. The second came early in the fourth quarter at the Davidson 42, and he took it 42 yards for a touchdown, San Diego's first defensive score of the season.
• Castille finished with 52 interception return yards and a solo tackle. His two picks were half of the Toreros' four that afternoon, and San Diego scored 28 points off turnovers.
• It was the first weekly honor of his career, and he joined Emiliano Salazar, the PFL Special Teams Player of the Week on Sept. 20, as the second Torero to earn one this season.

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. VALPARAISO

• Saturday is the 30th meeting between the programs, and San Diego leads the all-time series 22-7, including 12-2 at home. It is the first meeting in San Diego since a 21-14 Torero win on Oct. 30, 2021.
• The Toreros have won 16 of the last 18 meetings dating to 2004 and 10 straight at home, a streak that began in 2002. Valparaiso's last win in San Diego was 32-10 on Oct. 28, 2000, and both of its wins in the last 18 meetings came at home: 20-19 in the spring of 2021 and 28-21 in 2022.
• San Diego won last year's meeting 43-27 at Valparaiso on Nov. 8, running for 241 yards and rallying from a 14-13 halftime deficit. Adam Criter ran 26 times for 117 yards and two touchdowns, the second a 2-yard run with 15 seconds left, and Ruben Lopez intercepted a pass for the third straight game.

AROUND THE PFL

• Butler (2-0) and Marist (2-0) are the only PFL teams without a league loss. Valparaiso is one of four teams at 2-1, along with St. Thomas, Presbyterian and Drake, and San Diego is 1-2.
• The Beacons handed three-time defending champion Drake its first league loss, 21-13, on Oct. 10, a week after a 37-3 win at Morehead State. Their only PFL loss was 33-28 to Butler on Sept. 26.
• Elsewhere last week, St. Thomas beat Stetson 64-21, Presbyterian beat Davidson 38-21 and Dayton beat Morehead State 56-28.
• San Diego is 12-4 in PFL play over the last two seasons and has finished second in the league both years.

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE

• San Diego faced two ranked nonconference opponents — UC Davis, No. 7 in the AFCA coaches poll at the time, and Idaho State, No. 24 — and won the third, at Cal Poly, on Emiliano Salazar's last-second field goal.
• UC Davis is No. 12 and Idaho State is No. 21 in the latest AFCA coaches poll (Oct. 12). Cal Poly, now 4-3, won 25-24 at Idaho State last week.
• San Diego's six opponents are a combined 24-15, and five of the six have winning records.

HOMECOMING AND ALUMNI WEEKEND

• Saturday's game is part of USD's Homecoming and Alumni Weekend and is the Toreros' first at Torero Stadium since their 63-14 win over Davidson on Oct. 3. San Diego is 1-1 at home this season and 1-3 on the road.
• Valparaiso is the first of three home opponents in San Diego's final five games, with Marist (Oct. 31) and Stetson (Nov. 21) to follow. The Toreros visit Dayton next week and Drake on Nov. 7.

BALL CONTROL

• San Diego has won time of possession in all six games, averaging 32:44 a game, and has run 434 offensive plays to its opponents' 357.
• The Toreros are averaging 153.7 rushing yards on 4.3 per carry, and five players have combined for 11 rushing touchdowns: Adam Criter, Omar Mbakwe and Dom Nankil three apiece, and CJ Ceron and Zamar Reese one each. Criter's 55-yarder at Cal Poly and Ceron's 53-yarder at Idaho State remain the Toreros' two longest runs of the season.
• Criter leads USD with 436 rushing yards (72.7 per game) through six games, Mbakwe has 220, Ceron has 114 on just nine carries — a 12.7-yard average — and Reese has 102 at 5.7 per carry.

SALAZAR'S PAT STREAK REACHES 61

• Emiliano Salazar has made all 61 extra points he has attempted in his career — 40-for-40 in 2025 and 21-for-21 this season.
• His 36 points share the team lead with Cole Monach. He is 5-for-8 on field goals this season, including a season-long 44-yarder at Butler, and 20-for-26 for his career.
• The junior also handles punts and kickoffs: he is averaging 40.9 yards on 29 punts with 10 inside the 20, seven of 50 yards or longer and one touchback, and his kickoffs average 53.2 yards with six touchbacks.
• A Preseason All-PFL pick at both placekicker and punter — the only player in the league selected twice — Salazar owns two game-winning field goals in the final seconds as a Torero, including this season's 38-yarder at Cal Poly that made him PFL Special Teams Player of the Week on Sept. 20.

PICKED FIRST IN THE PIONEER FOOTBALL LEAGUE

• San Diego was picked to win the PFL for a second straight year, edging three-time defending champion Drake 90-88 in the preseason coaches poll, with St. Thomas third at 87.
• The Toreros placed a league-best nine players on the Preseason All-PFL Team, filling 10 of the 31 spots, with Emiliano Salazar the only player selected at two positions.

2025 IN REVIEW

• San Diego went 8-4 overall and 6-2 in the PFL, finishing second in the league for a second straight season.
• The Toreros closed on a five-game winning streak, outscoring Davidson, Dayton, Valparaiso, Butler and Stetson by a combined 185-83.
• The fourth quarter belonged to San Diego. The Toreros scored 137 of their 341 points in the final period — more than they managed in the first and third quarters combined (98) — and outscored opponents 137-72 after three.
• San Diego turned takeaways into points better than anyone it played, scoring 64 points off turnovers against seven the other way, and finished plus-12 in turnover margin with 18 takeaways to six giveaways.

2026 SEASON HIGHS

• Passing yards: 354 — Dom Nankil at St. Thomas (Sept. 26), where his 29 completions and 50 attempts were also season highs
• Touchdown passes: 4 — Dom Nankil vs. Davidson (Oct. 3)
• Rushing yards: 179 — Adam Criter at Cal Poly (Sept. 19)
• Longest run: 55 — Adam Criter at Cal Poly (Sept. 19)
• Receptions: 10 — Elijah Taylor at St. Thomas (Sept. 26)
• Receiving yards: 144 — Elijah Taylor at St. Thomas (Sept. 26)
• Touchdown catches: 3 — Cole Monach vs. Davidson (Oct. 3)
• Longest reception: 38 — Cole Monach at Butler (Oct. 10)
• Tackles: 8 — Tim Hays vs. UC Davis (Sept. 5), Jack Munro at Cal Poly (Sept. 19) and Ruben Lopez at St. Thomas (Sept. 26) and vs. Davidson (Oct. 3)
• Tackles for loss: 2.5 — Sean Scheck at Butler (Oct. 10)
• Sacks: 2 — Joe Bolder vs. Davidson (Oct. 3)
• Interceptions: 2 — CJ Castille vs. Davidson (Oct. 3)
• Longest kickoff return: 51 — Major Givens vs. Davidson (Oct. 3)
• Longest field goal: 44 — Emiliano Salazar at Butler (Oct. 10)
• Longest punt: 55 — Emiliano Salazar at Idaho State (Sept. 12)
• Team: 63 points, 529 total yards, 7.9 yards per play and five sacks vs. Davidson (Oct. 3); 263 rushing yards at Cal Poly (Sept. 19)

2026 SCHEDULE

DATE	OPPONENT	RESULT / TIME (PT)	TV
Sept. 5	UC Davis	L, 17-49	ESPN+
Sept. 12	at Idaho State	L, 17-59	ESPN+
Sept. 19	at Cal Poly	W, 38-35	ESPN+
Sept. 26	at St. Thomas	L, 17-50	Midco Sports Plus / FOX9+
Oct. 3	Davidson	W, 63-14	ESPN+
Oct. 10	at Butler	L, 10-41	ESPN+
Oct. 17	Valparaiso	1 p.m.	ESPN+
Oct. 24	at Dayton	9 a.m.	TBA
Oct. 31	Marist	1 p.m.	ESPN+
Nov. 7	at Drake	10 a.m.	TBA
Nov. 21	Stetson	5 p.m.	ESPN+

PLAYERS TO WATCH
#9  Dom Nankil   QB  •  Senior  •  6-0  •  175  •  Chula Vista, Calif.  •  Mater Dei Catholic HS
2026

• Has completed 133 of 208 passes (63.9%) for 1,505 yards and nine touchdowns through six games, has run for three scores, and his 1,545 yards of total offense (257.5 per game) lead San Diego by more than 1,100.
• Has thrown for 970 yards over the last three games — 354 at St. Thomas, 321 with a season-high four touchdowns against Davidson and 295 on 28-of-42 passing at Butler, where he found Omar Mbakwe for a 30-yard touchdown on fourth-and-9.

Career

• A Jerry Rice Award finalist as a freshman in 2023, finishing 15th in the voting after throwing for 1,158 yards and five touchdowns in eight games.
• Has completed 399 of 641 career passes for 4,608 yards and 27 touchdowns.

#4  Adam Criter   RB  •  Graduate  •  6-3  •  205  •  Downers Grove, Ill.  •  St. Francis HS
2026

• Leads San Diego with 94 carries, 436 rushing yards (72.7 per game) and 469 all-purpose yards through six games, and his three rushing touchdowns share the team lead.
• Scored on runs of 13 and 25 yards against Davidson, finishing with 75 yards on 11 carries. Ran 28 times for a season-high 179 yards at Cal Poly, including a 55-yard touchdown that remains the longest run by a Torero this season.

Career

• Preseason All-PFL First Team in 2026.

#17  Cole Monach   WR  •  Graduate  •  6-1  •  185  •  San Juan Capistrano, Calif.  •  San Juan Hills HS
2026

• Leads San Diego with 453 receiving yards and six touchdown catches (of the team's nine), shares the team lead with 36 points and has 34 receptions, one behind Elijah Taylor, through six games.
• Caught five passes for 79 yards at Butler, including a season-long 38-yarder on third-and-10 that set up Emiliano Salazar's 44-yard field goal. A week earlier he caught eight for 124 yards and a season-high three touchdowns against Davidson.
• Also the holder on Emiliano Salazar's placekicks, including the game-winner at Cal Poly.

Career

• Preseason All-PFL Second Team in 2026.
• Has 123 career receptions for 1,710 yards and 15 touchdowns, including 29 catches for 362 yards and three scores in 2024 and 55 for 822 and six in 2025.

#41  Emiliano Salazar   K/P  •  Junior  •  6-1  •  170  •  Orange, Calif.  •  Villa Park HS
2026

• PFL Special Teams Player of the Week on Sept. 20 after his 38-yard field goal with 2 seconds left won at Cal Poly, 38-35.
• Is 5-for-8 on field goals, with makes from 30, 34, 37, 38 and 44 yards, and 21-for-21 on extra points through six games. His 36 points share the team lead with Cole Monach.
• Averaging 40.9 yards on 29 punts with 10 inside the 20, seven of 50 yards or longer and one touchback, including a season-long 55-yarder at No. 24 Idaho State. Also handling kickoffs at 53.2 yards per boot, with six touchbacks.

Career

• Preseason All-PFL selection at both placekicker and punter in 2026, the only player in the league chosen twice.
• Has two game-winning field goals in the final seconds as a Torero: a 25-yarder as time expired to beat St. Thomas 30-27 on Sept. 27, 2025, and the 38-yarder at Cal Poly on Sept. 19.
• Is 61-for-61 on extra points in his career.

 
#6  Ruben Lopez   FS  •  Graduate  •  6-0  •  180  •  Mission Viejo, Calif.  •  Mission Viejo HS
2026

• Has 31 tackles — a team-high 24 of them solo — with two tackles for loss, two interceptions and four pass breakups through six games.
• Led San Diego with eight tackles at St. Thomas and again against Davidson, when he intercepted a pass on the Wildcats' second snap to set up a touchdown. Also made an end-zone interception against No. 6 UC Davis and stopped Cal Poly quarterback Anthony Grigsby Jr. on fourth-and-goal from the 1 to protect a 35-28 fourth-quarter lead in the 38-35 win.

Career

• Entered 2026 tied for fourth in program history with 11 career interceptions and has 13 after picks against UC Davis and Davidson.
• All-PFL Second Team in 2024 and PFL Co-Defensive Player of the Week that Oct. 6, after an 87-yard walk-off fumble return for a touchdown in overtime against Presbyterian.
• Preseason All-PFL Second Team in 2026.

#20  CJ Castille   CB  •  Sophomore  •  5-11  •  180  •  Eastvale, Calif.  •  Centennial HS
2026

• PFL Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 4 after intercepting two passes against Davidson — the first two of his career — and returning the second 42 yards for a touchdown, San Diego's first defensive score of the season.
• His first pick, on the opening play of the second quarter, set up Cole Monach's 28-yard touchdown catch two plays later. Has five tackles in five games this season, including two at Butler, and is the second-team right cornerback on this week's two-deep.

Career

• Appeared in 11 games as a freshman in 2025.

Before San Diego

• Was his league's Defensive MVP at Centennial High, where he made more than 150 tackles with two interceptions, a pick-six and more than 20 pass breakups. Also ran track, with bests of 11.1 in the 100 meters and 22.2 in the 200.

#49  Cayden Gibson   OLB  •  Junior  •  6-2  •  220  •  Chandler, Ariz.  •  Arizona College Prep
2026

• Has played in five of San Diego's six games, including starts at LEO at Cal Poly, against Davidson and at Butler, and has 10 tackles. Made five at Butler, matching his total from his first four games, with half a tackle for loss.

Before San Diego

• Piled up 285 tackles, 61 tackles for loss and 50 sacks at Arizona College Prep, with three blocked punts as a senior.
• A two-time all-region defensive player of the year and four-time Arizona all-state honoree who also wrestled, placing second in the state as a senior.

#96  River Abenroth   DT  •  Junior  •  6-2  •  270  •  San Diego, Calif.  •  Point Loma HS
2026

• Shares the team lead with 4.5 tackles for loss, with Sean Scheck, and has 10 tackles through six games. Had two stops behind the line at St. Thomas and a half-sack against Davidson, and shared tackles for loss with Jae'Von Reels at Cal Poly and Scheck at Butler.

Career

• A 2026 Preseason All-PFL selection, one of two Toreros among the league's five preseason defensive linemen.
• A San Diego native who played at Point Loma High, roughly 10 minutes from campus.

#76  Sean Scheck   DT  •  Senior  •  6-3  •  260  •  Batavia, Ill.  •  Marmion Academy
2026

• Shares the team lead with 4.5 tackles for loss, with River Abenroth, and has 13 tackles and 1.5 sacks through six games. His 2.5 tackles for loss at Butler, including a sack, are the most by a Torero in a game this season, and he and Glenn Baranoski pressured the quarterback on CJ Castille's pick-six against Davidson.

Career

• A 2026 Preseason All-PFL selection.
• Earned four all-conference honors at Marmion Academy, two in football and two in wrestling, and was an all-state wrestler.

#95  Jae'Von Reels   NT  •  Senior  •  6-1  •  280  •  San Jose, Calif.  •  Bellarmine College Prep
2026

• Has 12 tackles and two tackles for loss through six games, including four tackles and 1.5 for loss at Butler. Made five of his tackles at Cal Poly, where he stuffed Jaden Green for no gain on third-and-goal from the 1 a play before Ruben Lopez's fourth-down stop.

Career

• W-Cal Defensive Lineman of the Year at Bellarmine College Prep in 2023.

NEW FACES

• San Diego brought in 10 transfers for 2026: Doug Williams (Stetson/Glendale CC), Elijah Taylor (Northern Arizona), Nolan Story (Moorpark College), Alex Whitman (Notre Dame), Robert Tucker III (Cornell), Michael Roni (San Diego State), Tim Hays (Boston College), Jake Arellano (Bentley), Mansfield Owsley (Georgetown) and Jack Hinchey (Modesto JC).
• Three are starters on this week's two-deep — Taylor, Hays and Story — and Williams is on the second unit. All four played in the opener, along with Robert Tucker III.

#3  Elijah Taylor   WR  •  Graduate  •  6-0  •  190  •  Phoenix, Ariz.  •  Higley HS  •  Northern Arizona
 

• Started his Torero debut at wide receiver against No. 6 UC Davis and leads San Diego with 35 catches through six games, with 452 yards — one behind Cole Monach for the team lead — and a touchdown.
• Has three straight 100-yard receiving games: a season-high 10 catches for 144 yards at St. Thomas — the first 100-yard game by a Torero in 2026 — eight for 114 against Davidson and six for 100 at Butler.
• Spent five seasons at Northern Arizona, playing 11 games in 2025 largely on special teams with three special teams tackles and two catches for 28 yards.
• His most productive year came in 2022: 20 receptions for 198 yards in 10 games, including a season-high six catches for 57 yards against Montana State and his first career rushing touchdown at Idaho State.
• Made seven starts in 2023 and averaged 21.8 yards on four catches, among them a 60-yard reception against Sacramento State.
• Recovered a blocked punt for a touchdown against Lincoln in 2024.
• Big Sky All-Academic in 2025. Pursuing a graduate degree in educational leadership.

#5  Nolan Story   OLB  •  Sophomore  •  6-0  •  210  •  Thousand Oaks, Calif.  •  Newbury Park HS  •  Moorpark College
 

• Is the first-team STAR on this week's two-deep and has 15 tackles through six games, six of them in his Torero debut against No. 6 UC Davis.
• Put up 199 tackles in 19 games across two seasons at Moorpark College — 10.5 per game — with 17.5 tackles for loss, six forced fumbles, six interceptions and two sacks.
• Junior College Gridiron All-American First Team and National Northern All-Conference First Team in both 2024 and 2025.
• Moorpark's defensive MVP in 2024, then team captain and team MVP in 2025.
• Unanimous Southern California Football Association Defensive Utility Player of the Year and an All-California Community College First Team Defense pick in 2025. Named MVP of the 2025 Patriotic Bowl.
• A First Team All-Canyon League linebacker and First Team All-Ventura County running back as a senior at Newbury Park.

#42  Tim Hays   OLB  •  Graduate  •  6-1  •  227  •  Concord, Mass.  •  Carlisle HS  •  Boston College
 

• Started at WILL in his Torero debut and leads San Diego with 34 tackles through six games, including team highs of eight against No. 6 UC Davis and seven at No. 24 Idaho State.
• Played 12 games at Boston College over three seasons, at linebacker and on special teams, recording tackles against Notre Dame and Georgia Tech.
• ACC All-Academic Team in 2025. Graduated magna cum laude with a degree in finance and computer science.
• Majoring in applied artificial intelligence at USD.
• His cousin, Garrett Reilly, punted at Boston College in 2018.

#2  Doug Williams   CB  •  Junior  •  5-9  •  180  •  Hollywood Hills, Calif.  •  Heritage Christian  •  Stetson / Glendale CC
 

• Second-team left cornerback who made his Torero debut against No. 6 UC Davis and broke up a fourth-quarter pass against Davidson.
• Arrives by way of Stetson — the PFL opponent San Diego closes the regular season against on Nov. 21 — and Glendale Community College.
• Named Community College Student Athlete of the Year at Glendale, where he carried the highest grade-point average of any athlete on campus.
• Recorded 50 tackles at Heritage Christian with six pass breakups, five tackles for loss, an interception, a forced fumble and a blocked punt, earning First and Second Team All-Conference honors.
• A first-generation college athlete. Both of his parents work in entertainment — his father as an actor and comedian, his mother as an actress — and his younger brother, Adan, plays cornerback at Glendale.