His team may be preparing for one of its toughest non-conference games in recent memory, but Ventura College football coach Steve Mooshagian has been able to keep his sense of humor this week.

The Pirates (1-0) welcome Fullerton College, the No. 2-ranked team in the nation according to JC Grid-Wire and JCFootball.com, to the VC Sportsplex Saturday night.

"It looks like our game last year against Cerritos," said Mooshagian. "It seems like everybody is asking me, 'You're not going to go for two, are you?"

The Falcons, who reached the Southern California semifinals, escaped Ventura dramatically, 36-35, on Sept. 26 after former Ventura coach Jon Mack elected to attempt a two-point conversion with nine seconds left rather than send the game into overtime, despite a huge advantage in the kicking game.

Kicker Tyler Stampler, who is now at New Mexico State, kicked a school-record five field goals that night and had set the school record for longest field goal the previous week.

"That's last year," said Mooshagian. "We'll see what happens this year.

"It feels like we're playing ourselves... The team that makes the fewest mistakes, the team that competes for four quarters, the team that makes the fewest turnovers is going to win. It may come down to a special teams play."