CSM pass rusher John Gayer returns from severe knee injury

After a knee injury cost him his 2023 season, Gayer returned to the field last Saturday’s for CSM’s thrilling 27-26 victory at Sierra College. The 6-4, 250-pound defensive end proved the Bulldogs’ top defender, logging a team-high 10 tackles, with four tackles for a loss, including three sacks.

“Unfortunately, he had to redshirt last year,” CSM head coach Tim Tulloch said. “To me, it’s awesome to see how patient he’s been and how hard he’s worked, to see it show up on the field.”

Gayer, who has been playing the defensive line since his youth football days, said he didn’t know his best all-time single-game sack total. His performance against Sierra did match his five-game season total from his senior year at ND-Sherman Oaks.

“Today was up there,” Gayer said following last Saturday’s game.

Despite the ACL injury that kept him out of action last season, Gayer didn’t spend much time away from the team. In fact, he served a role that landed him in the press box.

“I was actually in the press box charting plays,” Gayer said.

Studying the x’s and o’s with the bird’s-eye view from Bulldog Stadium served Gayer well, Tulloch said.

“We put him to work and his football IQ grew,” Tulloch said. “The kid had to sit for two years. Now you get to see him step up in a big — Sierra’s a great team. They’re a bowl team; played in a bowl game last year — on a big stage, to show up, and show up big when we needed him.”

CSM is set for a Week 2 showdown with Reedley College. Kickoff is Saturday at Bulldog Stadium is scheduled for 1 p.m.

Return of the ‘Missil3’

When asked at Sierra College in a postgame interview about CSM’s new transfer sophomore Hassan Mahasin, Tulloch immediately exclaimed: the “Missile!”

With his nickname stylized the ‘Missil3” since his days at Serra — where he graduated in 2022 after missing most of his senior season due to injury — Mahasin gave Tulloch and the Bulldogs plenty to be excited about in their season opener.

Wearing his signature No. 3, Mahasin made quite an impact in his CSM debut, racking up 238 all-purpose yards against Sierra. He was the most prolific target of freshman quarterback Conner Annicharico — who made an impression as a legitimate pocket passer, going 15-of-32 passing for 216 yards — finding Mahasin nine times for 130 yards, including five receptions on the Bulldogs’ opening drive of the season. Mahasin also returned three kickoffs for 108 yards, including a long of 50 yards to set up CSM’s second drive.

Each of CSM’s first two possessions found the end zone to establish an early 13-7 lead. During the first two drives, however, the public address announcer at Ostrom Stadium kept mispronouncing Masasin’s name as Hassan “Machine.” Not so bad so far as nicknames go, but the announcer corrected the pronunciation by the second quarter. So, the “Machine” is unlikely to supplant the “Missil3.”

Mahasin spent his freshman season of 2023 at City College of San Francisco, where he was one of the Rams’ top receivers. He ranked second on the team with 675 receiving yards while leading the team with 63 catches. His nine receptions at Sierra matched his career-high.