Football players from Sacramento State are accused of greasing their jerseys with nonstick cooking spray on the sideline during a game against top-ranked Montana last weekend. Sacramento lost by 31-24.

The Big Sky Conference and Sacramento State said they were trying to figure out how many applied Pam, a cooking spray, to their uniforms and if the coaches knew. The players and the university could face punishment.

''We'll decide the penalty, depending upon who we find at the bottom of the pile,'' the league's commissioner, Doug Fullerton, said. ''I think it's a serious ethical breach.''

Fullerton said applying cooking spray to a jersey could make it more difficult for opposing linemen.