The College of San Mateo football team has the tallest of orders on Saturday when it plays host to City College of San Francisco in the 70th meeting of their rivalry. Of late, the Rams have been the dominant team in Northern California. But San Mateo, behind a prolific spread-option offense, has put itself in position to challenge the Rams for the NorCal Conference championship.

And the Bulldogs are ready for the challenge.

"It's two good teams head-to-head," sophomore wingback Michael Harris said. "Whichever team makes the fewest mistakes wins."

San Mateo knocked off Foothill last weekend 38-28 in a typical Bulldog win -- quarterback Julian Edelman rushed for 216 yards and three touchdowns and the team rushed for 474 yards, the third time this year it has rushed for at least 460 yards.

Larry Owens, in his 16th year as head coach, said he likes it that the offense keeps the other team's defense from keying on one guy.

"It's been successful," he said. "It's done well for us. From a defensive perspective, it keeps us off the field. We control the clock."

The guru of the spread option at San Mateo is fifth-year offensive coordinator Brett Pollack. The scheme has become popular at the major college level, thanks to the success of former Utah coach Urban Meyer, now at Florida. Georgia Southern, Navy and Air Force are among the teams that use it. Essentially, it combines a spread formation with more traditional option plays. The offense gives up blockers because there are no tight ends, but according to Pollack, that "evens out," because the defense has to account for all the receivers.

"If you have all three options, you're good," Pollack said. "Running backs, quarterback and the speed on the outside."

Wingback E.J. Boganey said, "Catching, running and blocking -- those are the key things to anybody's offense."

Edelman is the key for the Bulldogs. Running the option, a quarterback has to make quick decisions and also be patient enough to hold onto the ball as long as possible on some plays to force the defense to commit. At Woodside High, Edelman was more of a traditional quarterback, running a pro-set and power-I offense. He has adjusted to the new offense splendidly; he has rushed for 727 yards and seven touchdowns in seven games for the 5-2 Bulldogs. He has a chance to challenge the San Mateo single-season rushing record of 1,123 yards set in 1991 by Dave Hanson.

"It's like being a running back who can throw," Edelman said. "You do get hit a lot. I carried the ball 31 times last week. That's a lot for a running back."

As a team, San Mateo has rushed for 2,376 yards on the year. Ryan Faumuina, a freshman from San Leandro, and Sean Connor, a sophomore from Seattle, split time at running back. Faumuina has rushed for 426 yards and seven touchdowns, and Connor has rushed for 368 yards and two touchdowns.

A solid offensive line has also been a key.

"You can't explain what that line has done," Edelman said. "They're strong, they're huge, they know the offense."

As for CCSF, Edelman said the key is coming into the game with the right attitude.

"We respect them," he said. "We know they're a good team. They have all these Division I guys. We're not going to bow down to them. We're going to go out there to win the game, and we believe we can win the game."