Circa Friday Football Invitational | September 4th, 2026 | Hour 3

**SPEAKER_2** (0:09)
25 pro handicappers, $30,000 on the line. This is the Circa Friday Football Invitational, presented by Omaha Stakes on VSiN, the Sports Betting Network. Here's your host, Matt Youmans.

**Matt Youmans** (0:25)
Final hour tonight of the Circa Friday Football Invitational, this show is brought to you by Omaha Stakes. Get two free pounds of American ground beef on any order of $129 or more at omahostakes.com/vsin.
And again, unrivaled quality, real variety, every single bite backed by their 100% guarantee, no bull. Omaha Stakes is the official sponsor of tailgating. Every steak is hand cut and the burgers, dogs and brats are all from 100% American beef, aged 35 days or more for tenderness. Right now, get two free pounds of 100% American Ultra Premium ground beef on any order of $129 or more. Make game day delicious, no bull. omahastakes.com. Slash VSiN. All right, quick update here. San Jose State up on Eastern Michigan, 17-14.
Final two minutes of the third quarter. Oklahoma all over UTEP, 21-0, midway through the second quarter in Norman. Michigan State with a 13-0 lead over Toledo. About to get underway in our VSiN Primetime Game of the Night, Fresno State, USC.
Right here at Circa, Trojans 31 and a, excuse me, 21 and a half point favorites. At DraftKings, 22 and a half, total of 51 or 51 and a half. And our pro picks on this game tonight, I've got Fresno State plus 22 and a half. Also on Fresno, Ian Cameron and Jensen Lewis. On the total, over 51 and a half. Mitch Moss, Stormy Bonantoni, the big Swede, Dustin Swedelson. And it looks like Will Hill is on USC first quarter as a six and a half point favorite. So there you can see the pro play this night. Game about to kick off in LA. And Matt Ince is the second year coach of the Fresno State Bulldogs, formerly at North Dakota State, where he won two FCS championships in five years. Here is Matt Ince on TV in Fresno with our friend Scott Bemis, talking about the prep for the Bulldogs' opener at USC tonight.

**Matt Ince** (2:31)
I believe in consistency. I believe in having structure within how we approach each day and have a plan. And I think they appreciate that too, because they know what to expect.
They know what's on the line that day.

**Scott Bemis** (2:45)
Coach, what did you see from USC yesterday as they opened the season against San Jose State?

**Matt Ince** (2:49)
Well, I've only really dove in. I watched the first half on TV. Then we had practice that night, kind of went through a mock game.
Extremely talented at the skill positions. Of course, everyone knows Jayden. A quarterback is, you know, when you talk about being a Heisman candidate and one of the best players in the country coming back at that position, you know, it's going to be a huge task. We're going to have to play really well. The big thing I'm concerned about is just making sure that the first 10 to 15 minutes that we kind of get our feet in the ground and we settle in and we don't allow the environment. We don't allow the pageantry of playing in the Coliseum to overwhelm us.

**Angelique Martinez** (3:24)
You know, obviously playing in a historic building like that, it's going to be a fun environment. It's on national TV. But as a coach, having gone through fall camp, what are you most excited about seeing your team do on the big stage and how they perform?

**Matt Ince** (3:37)
Well, I think just play really good football.
A ton of energy, a ton of effort, high levels of execution, being situationally aware, and being able to minimize the distractions. We've talked about the Coliseum. We've talked about that the stadium doesn't sit north and south. It sits east and west. We've tried to eliminate all the distractions. The only thing now is we got to line up. We got to show up and we got to get lined up. We got to get our cleats in the ground and make them get theirs in the ground and play really good fundamental football.

**Matt Youmans** (4:08)
All right, it's Fresno State Coach Matt Ince right there with Scott Bemis and Angelique Martinez on KSE 24, CBS 47 in Fresno.
And I love the fact that Ince is sitting there in the middle of the casino doing that interview to preview the USC game. Let's go out to the Progressive Guest Line. Big Randy McKay out of North Dakota. Professional better, Circa Friday Football Invitational contestant joins us now. Follow him at rr39. And Big Randy, I know you're a fan of Matt Ince. He did a great job at North Dakota State. Did you play tonight's Fresno USC game?