ARCATA >> As much as Saturday’s season-opening win was exactly what the Jacks wanted to see happen, come Sunday, they were already moving onto the next one.

“When we had our meetings on Sunday, Coach said, ‘Hey, Western’s behind us after you guys watch this game tap and learn from it and focus on the next team,’” senior defensive end Codey Heidebrecht said. “That’s what we did. Monday was all about Azusa, Azusa, Azusa. No Western, no nothing. It wasn’t about last week’s win or who played the best. It was about what we have to do this week.”

It’s like that every week for many football teams. But it’s pretty easy to understand why that’s even more of the case knowing what school is on the HSU schedule.

While it isn’t a conference game this weekend, it will still be a Great Northwest Athletic Conference opponent lining up against the Jacks (1-0 overall, 1-0 GNAC). And a very good one at that, with Humboldt traveling to Southern California to face two-time defending GNAC champions Azusa Pacific (1-0, 0-0).

The Jacks will be in first place without any kind of company atop the standings for the next two Saturdays with no other GNAC games going on. There are matchups between two GNAC teams like HSU and Azusa this weekend, but none that will count in the conference standings until Sept. 26.

Team that with the fact that the Jacks have only three more home games this season, and the emphasis Smith put on the season opener was even that much more present.

“It was a very big game be it that is was a conference encounter. I didn’t want to understate that going in,” Humboldt State head coach Rob Smith said. “To get that step up Week 1, that’s very important for us.”

The Jacks certainly took advantage of sophomore running back Ja’Quan Gardner’s career night in the season opener.

Gardner, whose role has expanded this year with the graduation of Nick Ricciardulli, carried the ball 33 times for 201 yards and a touchdown against Western Oregon.

“I guess the knock on him or the question going into the season was durability,” Smith said of the 5-foot-7, 190-pound Gardner. “He missed games last year because of injury, he missed most of spring with injury. I certainly had no intention of giving him the ball 33 times (against Western Oregon). He is one of those backs that, I think, is showing he may get better as the game goes on regardless of the number of carries.”

• Gardner and Heidebrecht each earned GNAC honors as the top offensive and defensive players of the week, the conference announced on Tuesday.

Heidebrecht, one of HSU’s team captains this season, was responsible for both of the Jacks’ takeaways last Saturday night, intercepting a pass and recovering a fumble in the victory of Western Oregon.

“It’s nice to be recognized for that,” Heidebrecht said, “but there’s always more room for improvement, things I need to work on so I can keep improving.”

• Three starters — defensive tackle Anthony Ezirm, linebacker Khaalid Abdullah and left guard Josh Hanson — were forced to miss time against Western Oregon due to injury.

Smith declared Hanson, a Eureka High grad who medical redshirted last season, out for this weekend’s trip to Southern California with a shoulder injury he sustained in the first half against Western Oregon. Both Ezirm and Abdullah are listed as “doubtful,” according to Smith.

“We’re kind of keeping our fingers crossed when it comes to Anthony, but it doesn’t look good,” Smith said. “It doesn’t seem like it’s (an injury) that holds (Hanson) out for a significant amount of time, but he’ll miss this week.

“That’s the adversity that every team will face over the course of the season, and we’re no different. You know it’s coming, you don’t know to whom or what form it will take.”

Danny Penza can be reached evenings at 707-441-0528