One of the games to watch this weekend in college rugby is one you might not have expected to worry about way back in November.

Cal State Long Beach plays San Diego State on Saturday and both teams lost, and lost big, in the opening weeks of conference play. And, yes, they were playing the likes of Saint Mary's and Cal Poly, but, in a way, that was the point.

Earlier this season new SDSU Head Coach Ryan Matyas said that he was beginning to get the played to buy in to their offensive pattern. The result was a marked increase in points scored. This was, in part, a tough job for a former international player (capped at both 7s and 15s) to get what is a club team to take on his approach to the game.

For Peter Sio, like Matyas a former USA international, his role at CSULB was about getting younger players up to speed.

"We graduated 11 seniors, most of them starters, and we looked on this as a rebuild year," Sio told GRR. "The only thing we had in our favor we knew we had the biggest freshman class we'd ever had. We knew we were bringing in good freshman players. But I didn't know where we were going to finish."

Playing their toughest opponents early could have turned into a confidence implosion, or it could have served to show the players the prevailing standard. 

"Our schedule was toughest in the fall; I wanted to bring in these big boys to show we're committed to trying to improve," said Sio. "They hit us in the mouth early on but the players understood that this was the only way to get better. For me, the only negative was that guys got hurt."

But they started to learn and they started to take those lessons and win games. Starting 0-3, CSULB won four in a row. SDSU did similarly, starting 0-4 before winning three in a row.

Both made a huge step perhaps faster than expected.

"I was hoping to see the team show improvement next season," said Sio. "But the guys started to get comfortable and I see it now. We live and learn every weekend and I am happy that the boys stuck it out."

On Saturday, CSULB plays to finish 5-3. SDSU wants to make it to .500 in-conference with a victory. But either way, the message is this: lose big early? The only direction to go is up.