Season ticket renewals have gone well at Fresno State, which is coming off a 4-9 season in which it failed to captivate the home crowds at Bulldog Stadium. By the end of blowout losses to Boise State and Louisiana Tech, there were but a few believers remaining in the seats.

But after years of a steady decline in sales - part of the reason Coach Pat Hill was fired - Fresno State is making a push to get its season ticket base back to or above 20,000 to help a financially-strapped athletic department as it takes a step up into the Mountain West Conference.

''We had a strong renewal season and now we've got to get those former season ticket holders, we have to get them back this year,'' said Ryan Reggiani, an assistant athletic director for external relations. ''We actually lowered our public season ticket price to $140, which comes out to a little less than $24 a game. There's no donation required on those tickets.

''A lot of people think it takes a huge donation, that they can't afford it. But if you break it down they are affordable and there is no donation tied to it.''

In addition to public season tickets for the Bulldogs' six home games there is a flexible family plan - an adult ticket is $120, youth tickets are $40 and they can be mixed in matched in any combination as long as there is an adult - and a package for young alumni, faculty and staff at $99.

Those purchasing tickets by May 25 also will be entered into a drawing to win a lunch with Coach Tim DeRuyter on June 7.

Fresno State opens its season on Sept. 1 against Weber State at Bulldog Stadium and also has home dates against Colorado (Sept. 15), San Diego State (Sept. 29), Wyoming (Oct. 20), Hawaii (Nov. 3) and Air Force (Nov. 24).

Dwindling football ticket sales led to a budget deficit of $739,000 this year, forcing cuts in staffing as well as scholarship reductions, recruiting and other team expenditures.

''As football goes, the athletic department goes,'' Reggiani said.

Fresno State had a few issues last season dealing with Nevada quarterback Cody Fajardo, then a redshirt freshman quarterback who was making only his second career start when the Pack ran all over the Bulldogs' defense in a 45-38 victory back on Oct. 22.

Nevada racked up 581 yards of total offense in its win, Fajardo completing 19 of 27 passes for 313 yards and one touchdown and rushing for another 61 yards.

He ended up as the freshman of the year in the Western Athletic Conference and figures only to be more polished next season when Fresno State sees him again, and not just because he will be a year older, more mature and comfortable within the Nevada offense.

Fajardo has been invited to the Manning Passing Academy in July, where some of the top returning quarterbacks in college football get four days of on and off the field instruction from a team of coaches including Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning.

The Bulldogs' Derek Carr, who is coming off a strong sophomore season, is not going to the camp.

The Pack's Colin Kaepernick went to the workouts, held at Nicholls State in Louisiana, before his senior season and the results showed up on the field.

Kaepernick completed 64.9 percent (233 of 359) of his passes for 3,022 yards and had an efficiency rating of 150.5 in his senior season.

As a junior, he had completed 58.9 percent (166 of 282) of his passes for 2,052 yards and had an efficiency rating of 139.1.

Fresno State will play Nevada as members of the Mountain West Conference next season, the game scheduled for Nov. 10 at 7:30 p.m. in Reno.

After two weeks, Fresno State coach Tim DeRuyter finally addressed the pending departure of top returning receiver Jalen Saunders.

DeRuyter briefly spoke on the topic during a private gathering of Bulldogs fans the other week, apparently, but never to the media until Tuesday's teleconference of Mountain West Conference football coaches.

"Jalen and I had a conversation with he and his father," DeRuyter said. "He's decided that another program would be in his best interest. We wish him well."

The comments were far from earth shattering, obviously. But it does pretty much eliminate the notion that Saunders could still return to the Bulldogs.

Saunders, by the way, has been a little cryptic in his tweets of late but appears to be visiting some schools. He might even have a final destination chosen soon.

Defensive end Tristan Okpalaugo, outside linebacker Travis Brown and cornerback L.J. Jones, who missed spring ball at Fresno State coming back from shoulder injuries, are back working with their teammates to different degrees in their off-season conditioning program.

''L.J., and Tristan, they were back a little in spring ball doing some stuff. But he now is pretty much released in (the weight room) and able to do some things and those guys have been doing a great job,'' strength and conditioning coach Joey Boese said.

''They're a little bit behind as far as some of the technique stuff that we're doing and some of the other stuff, but all those guys have jumped in and done a great job the first couple of days here.

''We're going to have to do some things, monitor some things, if they can't do the regular bar on a bench press we'll do neutral grip dumbbells with them and there are some different adjustments we'll make so when we're two or three weeks out that they're right back in the mix so when they come back in summer there's no holding back.''

Brown and Jones started all 13 games a year ago and Okpalaugo started 10 games. All three are expected to be ready to go for the start of fall camp.

The 6-foot-5 Okplaaugo is a very intriguing piece to the Bulldogs' 3-4 defense that the coaching staff did not get much of a chance to see during spring practices.

''Tristan has got a great frame,'' Boese said. ''You talk about length, that's a huge thing that scouts look for and anybody evaluating players especially up front, that's length. You watch the NFL Network, they talk about arm length all the time and Tristan, we measured him and it's unbelievable, his arms are so long and his frame. For this defense he might be a perfect fit as a guy who can come off the edge. He definitely is a guy I think will help us in the season tremendously.''

The Fresno State Bulldogs went back to work this week in their off-season workout program, the emphasis for the next few weeks becoming a stronger and more physical football team.

Joey Boese, the strength and conditioning coach, has the Bulldogs working in five groups. He talked about the competition in the weight room and workouts and developing the Bulldogs' players as they work toward the start of fall camp.

Much was made during spring football at Fresno State that the offense was having difficulty adjusting to the up-tempo spread offense that was installed by offensive coordinator Dave Schramm.

There were mistakes made, players struggled to get lined up correctly a lot of times and conditioning was an issue playing at the pace needed to stress opposing defenses.

But, that is happening at a lot of places this spring including Ohio State.

Coach Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes are a little more than halfway through a spring practice in which they are installing a new spread offense and judging from some quotes in the Columbus Dispatch, it has not been as smooth a process as they would like back there.

A sampling from Meyer:

''We're not where we need to be. I'm not upset. You just wish we'd grasp it a little faster. It's not just at one position.''

''In offensive football, anytime you install or do something new, nine guys do it right and two do it wrong and it looks like the most disgusting thing you've ever seen.''

''I don't care really if you make a mistake. Just go full speed. That's my biggest issue right now. The terminology is different. A guy might go the wrong way. But make it going so fast that it's OK.''

Fresno State obviously had a lot of the same issues.

The Bulldogs return to work on Monday in their off-season conditioning program, the emphasis for the players these next few weeks getting stronger and more physical.

Fresno State defensive backs went through some individual drills on Wednesday during their Pro Day auditions in front of NFL scouts.

Linebacker Kyle Knox, who did the most bench press reps and had the best standing broad jump in testing, also is in this group.

Fresno State wide out Devon Wylie ran a 4.39 40-yard dash last month at the NFL Combine, the fourth fastest time among the receivers there.

He didn't run a 40 for NFL scouts on Wednesday at the Fresno State Pro Day, but did participate in the three-cone drill, the shuttle run and did some individual drills.

In this video, Wylie and J.J. Stallworth go through an individual pass-catching drill.

Fresno State held its pro timing day on Wednesday, the Bulldogs' seniors going through a series of physical tests and individuals drills for NFL scouts.

In this video, cornerback Isaiah Green, defensive tackle Logan Harrell and offensive tackle Bryce Harris are among those doing NFL reps (225 pounds) on the bench press.

Linebacker Kyle Knox did the most reps with 26.

WEBER STATE
2011 record: 5-6, 5-3 in the Big Sky
Returning starters: 18; 8 offense, 8 defense, 2 specialists
Stat: The Wildcats were ranked in the top 30 in the FCS in rushing, scoring and total offense
'Dogs outlook: Weber State hasn't beaten a FBS opponent this decade, but the Wildcats did go to Wyoming to open the 2011 season and lost by only 35-32 and the Cowboys turned out to be a decent team. John L. Smith, replacing the retired Ron McBride, has a lot of players returning but needs to find some fixes in a defense that gave up 439.4 yards per game to rank 110th of 120 FCS teams.

OREGON
2011 record: 12-2, 8-1 in the Pac-12
Returning starters: 16; 7 offense, 7 defense, 2 specialists
Stat: Oregon last season ranked third in the FBS in scoring with 46.1 points per game
'Dogs outlook: The Ducks last season were the only team playing in a BCS bowl for a third year in a row and have plenty of weapons returning. Fresno State has to go to Autzen Stadium, where Oregon rarely loses. Last season the Ducks beat non conference opponents Nevada 69-20 and Missouri State 56-7 on the home field and both games no doubt could have been much worse.

COLORADO
2011 record: 3-10, 2-7 in the Pac-12.
Returning starters: 13; 4 offense, 7 defense, 2 specialists
Stat: The Buffs ranked 109th in the FBS scoring last season and return only four starters on offense.
'Dogs outlook: Colorado coach Jon Embree has a lot of work to do at his alma mater, no doubt about that. One thing he was able to change in his first year - winning on the road. The Buffs won at Utah to close out the season, snapping a 24-game road losing streak that dated back to 2007. They will visit Bulldog Stadium on Sept. 15 looking to make it two road wins in a row.

TULSA
2011 record: 8-5, 7-1 in Conference USA
Returning starters: 13; 6 offense, 7 defense
Stat: Tulsa has 44 wins over the past five seasons, 20th best in the FBS
'Dogs outlook: The Golden Hurricane returns 85 percent of its rushing yards and 76 percent of its receiving yards, but missing is a three-year starter at quarterback in G.J. Kinne. Don't want to assume the Tulsa coaching staff thinks it is going to have a tough time finding a replacement, but they do have eight quarterbacks on their spring depth chart and only one has played in a game.

SAN DIEGO STATE
2011 record: 8-5, 4-3 in the Mountain West
Returning starters: 11; 6 offensive, 5 defense
Stat: The Aztecs led the MWC and were ninth in the FBS in turnover margin with a plus-.92
'Dogs outlook: Fresno State opens conference play against San Diego State on Sept. 29, and there has to be some question whether the Aztecs will have answers to all of their questions by then. At the top of that list is the quarterback position, after losing a three-year starter in Ryan Lindley. Coach Rocky Long has said they likely will go into fall with two or three quarterbacks getting reps.

COLORADO STATE
2011 record: 3-9, 1-6 in the Mountain West
Returning starters: 13, 8 offense, 4 defense, 1 specialist
Stat: Rams enter 2012 on eight-game losing streak, but open with Colorado and North Dakota St.
'Dogs' outlook: Jim McElwain had a chance to coach at Fresno State, but passed it up to go to Colorado State. His goal this spring? ''It's going to be very basic. We need to find the guys who can block, the guys who can tackle, the guys who can handle the nuances of what we need to get done offensively and defensively,'' he said. Sounds a lot like the Rams are starting at Square One.

BOISE STATE
2011 record: 12-1, 6-1 in the Mountain West
Returning starters: 8; 4 offense, 3 defense, 1 specialist
Stat: The Broncos are 50-3 over the past four seasons.
'Dogs outlook: Fresno State has one question: Weren't these guys supposed to be in the Big East? After absorbing a 57-7 beating last season, and 51-0, 51-34 and 61-10 losses before that, maybe could this be the Bulldogs' year. Boise State had 12 players on all-conference teams in 2011 including quarterback Kellen Moore and running back Doug Martin and all 12 of them were seniors.

WYOMING
2011 record: 8-5, 5-2 in the Mountain West
Returning starters: 14; 5 offense, 8 defense, 1 specialist
Stat: QB Brett Smith became the first freshman in MWC history to top 3,000 yards in total offense
'Dogs outlook: The Cowboys could be one of the better tests to see how well Fresno State will fit into the Mountain West. Coach Dave Christensen is building a solid program, has a lot of key pieces back on defense and they all are getting better. In physical testing before spring practice, Christensen said 90 percent of the players set personal bests in all of the areas they test.

NEW MEXICO
2011 record: 1-11, 1-6 in the Mountain West
Returning starters: 16; 8 offense, 6 defense, 2 specialists
Stat: The Lobos were 119th in the FBS in scoring offense and 120th in scoring defense.
'Dogs outlook: New Mexico has been down a long time and hired Bob Davie out the TV booth to be its new coach. A quick turnaround isn't likely, even with a lot of returning players. The Lobos haven't won more than one game in a season since 2008, but the 'Dogs shouldn't take the trip to Albuquerque for granted. New Mexico was 1-2 in MWC home games last year, one of the losses by four points.

HAWAII
2011 record: 6-7, 3-4 in the Western Athletic Conference
Returning starters: 14; 7 offense, 4 defense, 3 specialists
Stat: Hawaii was one of 12 FBS teams to lose four or more games by one score or less
'Dogs outlook: New coach in Norm Chow and a new offense for the Warriors, but there still is one old problem. Fresno State catches what could be a significant scheduling break, playing Hawaii at Bulldog Stadium the week after the Warriors play at Colorado State. Hawaii has not won the second of back-to-back road games since winning at New Mexico State in 2008.

NEVADA
2011 record: 7-6, 5-2 in the Western Athletic Conference
Returning starters: 12; 5 offensive, 6 defense, 1 specialist
Stat: The Wolf Pack churned out 506.7 yards of total offense per game, sixth best in the FBS
'Dogs outlook: There have been 12 lead changes in the past two games in the series, Fresno State losing 45-38 in Reno last season and 35-34 in Bulldog Stadium in 2010. It would help if the 'Dogs new coaching staff is just a little better at defending the Pistol offense than their predecessors. The past four years, Nevada has averaged 43.3 points and 525.8 total yards against the Bulldogs.

AIR FORCE
2011 record: 7-6, 3-4 in the Mountain West
Returning starters: 8; 3 offense, 3 defense, 2 specialists
Stat: Falcons ranked third in FBS in rushing offense with 314.8 yards per game
'Dogs outlook: Fresno State was not the strongest team against the run last year, ranking 72nd in the FBS in rushing defense. But the Bulldogs' one bye during the season comes at the end of the year before playing Air Force, giving Coach Tim DeRuyter and defensive coordinator Nick Toth some extra time to get them ready to play against the Falcons' option.