DAVIS, Calif. -- When the No. 4-ranked Aggie football team returns to UC Davis Health Stadium for its home opener this Saturday, a familiar name will adorn the visitor's side of the scoreboard: the Mountain Hawks of Lehigh University, members of the Patriot League. 

Then again, "familiar" is applied somewhat loosely here, as LU has not come to this campus since 1977. Yes, that's 42 years ago, when both the campus barely had 12,000 undergrads and the city of Davis had somewhere in the neighborhood of 30,000 residents. For that matter, Lehigh did not go by the Mountain Hawks but rather was still called the Engineers back then.

So why "familiar?" Why has this home opener even been described as a "revenge game?"

The December 3, 1977 meeting represents a vivid memory for long-time Aggies: on that foggy morning at Toomey Field – yes, the game had a 10 a.m. kick – UC Davis and Lehigh squared off for the NCAA Division II semifinal game. This was the first time the Aggies had made the postseason since the NCAA introduced a championship bracket four years earlier. The game marked the first nationally televised game at Toomey, with ABC Wide World of Sports legend Bill Flemming and former Notre Dame coach Ara Parseghian providing the call.

And technically speaking, the contest was a Bowl game: UC Davis and Lehigh paired off in the sixth and final edition of what was then known as the Knute Rockne Bowl. In fact, it is quite fitting that the Aggies-Engineers matchup would have such a namesake: at the time, the two winningest coaches in Notre Dame history were Rockne and Parseghian, respectively.

Lehigh jumped out to an early 16-0 lead in the opening quarter before junior quarterback Mike Moroski hit tight end Wally Loving for a pair of touchdown passes. Moroski also converted two-point conversions on each, tying the game at 16-16 at the half. The Far Western Conference Offensive Player of the Year then threw for two more TD strikes in the second half: one to Steve Griffin to tie the game at 23-23, and another on a 69-yarder that still looms large in Moroski's mental hard drive: 

"My main memory was of Tib Belza, one of the greatest people in the world," said Moroski. "Not the fastest receiver but I remember him catching that ball. I believe it was on a play action and he ran a corner. I got the ball to him. He was zigging and zagging because their guys were faster. They were breathing down his neck, but he managed a way to get in. That got us back within striking distance."

Belza's touchdown reduced the deficit to just 33-30, but the Aggies never fully closed the gap. Lehigh went on to a 39-30 victory and advanced to the championship game, where the Engineers blanked Jacksonville State for the national title. 

"Those were two well-matched teams. They were good," said Bob Foster, an assistant coach at the time. "And that receiver, wow."

Foster speaks of Lehigh receiver Steve Kreider, who formed a potent aerial tandem with star quarterback Mark Rieker. Kreider ended up playing eight years in the NFL for the Cincinnati Bengals, and even caught a pair of passes in the 1982 Super Bowl. In fact, the 1977 UC Davis-Lehigh game had four future NFL players. Besides Kreider, Moroski played eight years in the league, mostly for Atlanta. Cornerback Jeff Allen played for the Dolphins and Chargers. Defensive end Casey Merrill also logged eight years of NFL service time between Green Bay, New York and New Orleans.

Furthermore, Rieker was a sixth-round pick by New Orleans in the following NFL Draft. An honorable mention goes to Aggie center Paul Belluomini, who served as the 49ers' camp center for so long that he even snapped the ball to Moroski during the 1986 training camp.

Despite its disappointing final score, the '77 semifinal wrapped up an incredible season for UC Davis. The Aggies entered the game with an 11-0 record and won 20 straight home games to that point – including the legendary 37-21 win over Nevada three weeks earlier. The Aggie-Wolf Pack showdown still holds the distinction of the largest home crowd in program history, with an official attendance of 12,800, although even that figure has its doubters.

"There might have been 17-20,000 people there," recalls Moroski. "The fire marshall probably had to weigh in. They were five deep on the track, and they packed in the end zone seats. The brought in extra bleachers for the Nevada game, larger than the ones they had later."

That home stretch included the NCAA quarterfinal win over Bethune-Cookman, a game that carries stronger memories than the semifinal for defensive tackle Rob Hixson, now a senior vice president for CBRE.

"We ate dinner with them at the Faculty Club. They were really big guys," said Hixson. "They had guys who were 5-10 inches taller than me, and they're sitting next to me going, 'this guy is a defensive tackle?' They were giggling and laughing."

But according to Hixson, his "small" 6-foot-3, 235-pound stature might have played to the Aggies advantage. The Wildcats may have underrated their hosts, only to find that they had no answer for the pass-rush combination of Merrill and Mark Markel, known collectively as the "M&M Boys" at the time.

"The funny thing is that after we beat Bethune-Cookman," said Hixson, "the coach from Lehigh called them to get film. He asked for any tips, and the Bethune-Cookman coach said, 'yeah, don't eat dinner with them.' And he asks, 'what, did they poison you?'"

"'No,' he said, 'they're not that big, and all of our guys got overconfident.'"

The legendary Jim Sochor also listed the 1977 Lehigh game among his fondest Toomey Field memories during a interview conducted shortly before the Aggies' final home game in the facility. A run of five straight home games had taken its toll on the field, so much so that the university grounds crew constructed a tent over the turf in the hopes of growing grass in a week's time. "Flemming and Parseghian came out, we took off the tent, and played the game," he said in that 2005 conversation.

Then on the actual game day: "We had the pregame meal at the Faculty Club at 7 in the morning," Sochor recalled. "I ran out of gas along Putah Creek and had to walk. And it was foggy out, like The Hound of the Baskervilles. I couldn't see a thing, but I made my way to the Faculty Club. Then we got to the game and, despite the fog, people were lined up outside Toomey, hoping to get tickets."

In his game recap in the California Aggie, writer Rick Kushman described a scene of the Aggie fans arriving so early before kickoff that they gave a five-minute standing ovation... during the team's warm-up lap 90 minutes before kickoff. "Of course," he wrote, "it is possible that they were just trying to keep warm."

That excitement and atmosphere makes the 1977 stretch run a truly memorable time for Moroski, one that continues to motivate him as he builds a winning program as head football coach at College of Idaho. His Yotes host Southern Oregon on Saturday in a contest that not only features an archrival (Southern Oregon) but serves as both Homecoming and the program's "Let's Break The Record" day. 

"It's the ultimate college experience. I experienced it as a player at the Lehigh game, and I'm still passionate about re-creating that experience today," Moroski said.

"The Reno and Lehigh games are undoubtedly two of the greatest competitive environments that I've ever been in and that includes a cup of coffee in the NFL," he added. "It's because the community and the university were wrapped into one. It was new and fresh and exciting for everybody."

NOTES: Talk about student-athlete outcomes... When Hixson recalled his fellow defensive linemen, he brought up three other names: DE Casey Merrill, DE Mark Markel and DT Pat Fry... Hixson has been a commercial real estate broker for more than three decades, serving as a senior VP for CBRE... Merrill retired from the NFL after eight seasons then entered the world of appraisals and valuations, currently as the Southwest Region's executive managing director for Colliers... Markel was named Dean of the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Wisconsin... Fry retired as president and CEO of Sutter Health in 2016... Of course, that D-line also featured first-team All-American Chuck Fomasi, who owns almost 40 years of experience in finance.

ABOUT UC DAVIS: Providing a small-town community feel while providing a world-class academic experience, UC Davis is home to more than 37,000 students and centrally located between San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, and the Napa Valley. The No. 5-ranked public university in the nation according to the Wall Street Journal, and among the top 10 public universities nationwide according to U.S. News and World Report, UC Davis offers nearly 100 graduate programs and more than 100 academic majors across four colleges and six professional schools, ranking among the world and nation's best in numerous disciplines, including veterinary science, agriculture, and plant and animal programs.

AGGIE EVO: Established in 2017-18, the Aggie EVO System is UC Davis Athletics' investment in the primary mission of preparing student-athletes for a successful "launch" after graduation. Thanks to a collaboration of alumni, university resources, corporate partners, coaches and Student-Athlete Outcomes staff, all Aggies are guided over four years to acquire the skills, knowledge, opportunities and tools to better know and navigate the "World of Work" after graduating from UC Davis. Follow the Aggie EVO system on Twitter and Instagram at @AggieEVO.

DON'T MISS OUT: Season and single-game tickets for UC Davis football are now on sale by contacting the Athletics Ticket Office at (530) 752-AGS1 or by visiting us online at tickets.ucdavis.edu.