Aztecs won’t say the F-word — Fresno — as they emphasize rivalry game against ‘The Team Up North’

Flat-screen TVs in the San Diego State football office and players’ lounge began playing a hype video two weeks ago on a continuous loop.

The video features highlights of SDSU scoring touchdowns and making tackles in various games against Fresno State over the past decade. Sprinkled in among the game action are a dozen shots of The Old Oil Can, the traveling trophy that represents a rivalry that dates back more than a century.

Midway through all the quick cuts, the screen goes blank but for the words “Beat The Team Up North,” a statement repeated at the end of the presentation as well.

The video replays every 90 seconds. That means it plays 960 times a day. It will have been played more than 10,000 times by the time the Aztecs leave Friday afternoon for Saturday’s game in Fresno.

Talk about getting in some reps.

“I think rivalry games are different,” SDSU coach Sean Lewis said. “I’ll never say that it’s just another week. It’s not. Anytime that there’s a trophy and a history around that trophy, that means a lot.”

SDSU has played the Bulldogs more than any other opponent, and the Aztecs lead the all-time series 31-27-4. They beat Fresno State the last time the teams met on the field, winning 33-18 for a season-ending victory in 2023 at Snapdragon Stadium. The Bulldogs handed SDSU a gut-wrenching loss a year earlier at Valley Children’s Stadium, scoring two touchdowns in the final 69 seconds for a 32-28 win.

From virtually the moment he was hired, Lewis embraced the rivalry with the Bulldogs and the trophy that goes with it.

“That’s written within the fabric of the program,” Lewis said. “We’ve put our own style and personality in our brand to this proud program. But, to me, it’s the traditions, the pageantry, the rivalries, that make programs in college football unique. When you show up to a spot, you embrace that wholeheartedly.”

Lewis is all in on this one, so much so that players and coaches aren’t allowed to say Fresno State or the nickname Bulldogs when discussing their opponent.

“There’s a swear jar for it if you say that F-word or use the B-word this week,” Lewis said. “It’s a work week and it’s The Team Up North. There’s no other way around it. Words matter. … We don’t use their name. It’s the Oil Can Game against The Team Up North.”

SDSU (5-1, 2-0 Mountain West) is a 3-point favorite against Fresno State (5-2, 2-1) in its bid to retain The Old Oil Can. The trophy is displayed in SDSU’s locker room as an ever-present reminder for the Aztecs. It has moved about the building this week, to the weight room during lifts, as well as out to the practice field, where a staffer held it for players to tap as they took the field.

The SDSU-Fresno State rivalry dates to 1923, when the Aztecs claimed a 12-2 victory over the Bulldogs. Results from each of the 62 games between the teams are recorded on the oil can.

Why an oil can?

The SDSU and Fresno State alumni associations held a contest in 2011 to create a trophy that would represent the rivalry. Among the 65 submissions was one that detailed the discovery of a 1930s-era oil can from Fresno that was supposedly uncovered at SDSU during an on-campus building project.

“The oil can likely came from a time when Aztec and Bulldog fans traveled to football games between the two schools via the old, twisting, precipitous Grapevine section of Highway 99 over Tejon Pass,” Fresno State Alumni Association executive director Jacquelyn K. Glasener explained at the time.

An antique oil can was purchased to create the trophy.

“Waking up and coming to the building early in the morning, being able to see that oil can means a lot to us,” SDSU senior center Ross Ulugalu-Maseuli said. “We don’t want that going anywhere. This rivalry means a lot to me. Being here all five years of my college career, it’s always a big game when we play The Team Up North.”

“We understand the history of the oil can,” SDSU sophomore linebacker Owen Chambliss added. “We just want to keep it in-house and make sure we’re representing the past Aztecs well for what they fought for.”

Lewis ratcheted up the rivalry virtually the moment he was hired here two years ago, even then using “The Team Up North” in place of Fresno State. The phrase was originally coined by Ohio State coach Woody Hayes to avoid the word “Michigan” passing from his lips.

Lewis, a tight end at Wisconsin from 2004-07, traces his appreciation for rivalries to his Big Ten roots. Wikipedia lists 101 college football rivalry games that include some kind of trophy. It seems like half of them involve Big Ten teams (oddly enough, there isn’t one for Michigan-Ohio State).

There’s the Land of Lincoln Trophy (Illinois-Northwestern), Illibuck (Illinois-Ohio State), Purdue Cannon (Illinois-Purdue), Old Brass Spittoon (Indiana-Michigan State), Old Oaken Bucket (Indiana-Purdue), Floyd of Rosedale (Iowa-Minnesota), Paul Bunyan Trophy (Michigan-Michigan State), Little Brown Jug (Michigan-Minnesota), George Jewitt Trophy (Michigan-Northwestern), Land Grant Trophy (Michigan State-Penn State), Governor’s Victory Bell (Minnesota-Penn State), Heartland Trophy (Iowa-Wisconsin), Paul Bunyan’s Axe (Minnesota-Wisconsin).

“Our Paul Bunyan axe was really cool, and it stayed in our locker room for four straight years,” Lewis bragged. “Rivalries have always been a big deal, and they’re amplified with the experiences that I’ve had. I don’t shy away from that. Never have, never will.”

As for The Old Oil Can, Lewis said: “Every day matters. Twelve days count. That one means a little more. It’s just the way that it is. I know that’s the reality of it.”

“That’s why any day that we have full pads on, we have The Old Oil Can period, where there’s a winner and there’s a loser,” Lewis said. “That thing is top of mind for us every single day, and there is something that we do within our program almost every single day that is a reminder to our guys that that game means more.”

Fresno State is the only rivalry trophy SDSU has with an opponent. The Bulldogs also play for the Valley Trophy with San Jose State and the Milk Can with Boise State. It seems like the Aztecs should to get something started with Boise State, especially with both teams moving to the reconstituted Pac-12 next year.

“That decision is way above my head,” Lewis said. “When coaches try to get it going, it usually doesn’t last. It’s probably worth spitballing. It’s probably worth seeing how we could organically generate something as we go.

“I’m glad that our partners in this one are coming with us (Fresno State also is joining the new Pac-12) and we’ll be able to sustain that because last year felt a little incomplete not having a rivalry game.”

Speaking of The Team Up North, how is Fresno State referring to SDSU?

“Don’t know, don’t care,” Lewis said.

In his Monday meeting with the media, Fresno State coach Matt Entz made it obvious within moments of sitting down: “Great opportunity this week, play a really good football team, San Diego State. In my opinion, the best team we played since, probably, Kansas. Have a ton of respect for what Coach Lewis has done.”

Entz didn’t say whether that respect extended to how Lewis refers to the Bulldogs. This much is known, Entz hasn’t emphasized the rivalry nearly as much as The Team Down South.

“We talked a little bit about the traveling trophy this morning,” Entz said Monday. “Just gave our guys a quick history about what it was.”

Finding a filler phrase for a rival isn’t new for Lewis. When he was head coach at Kent State, Lewis called the school’s rival “The Team Down The Road.”

Asked who that was, Lewis didn’t bite.

“You can Google it,” he said.

(Akron is the answer)

What if someone accidentally said the F-word? What would be the punishment?

“I haven’t come across someone who said it yet,” Ulugalu-Maseuli said, “so I’m not too sure.”