Fans chanted, the drummer on the quads got down and the bass drummer thumped away inside Bulldogs Stadium on Thursday, but all you saw was the Fresno State football team thumping one another with about 10 spectators in the stands.

Coach Pat Hill said he wanted Thursday's practice hot and noisy and that's what he got as the team lined both sidelines inside the stadium with eight speakers and pumped team bands like they were Notorious B.I.G. risen from the dead with a new album -- that's loud. Maybe you like U2 better?

The practice started on the normal practice field but was moved to the stadium halfway through to give the players their first fall feel for game situations with intense noise. The coaches got a chance to don their sideline headsets and work on their signal calling, too.

On the first play from scrimmage with the noise, starting running back Lonyae Miller sprinted through a hole perhaps the size of two Jason Shirleys and ran for 20 yards before slowing. That was a highlight but offensive coordinator Jim McElwain saw enough stumbling and delaying to call the day "the worst display of football I've seen on this football field. I thought we were farther than we were. I'm very disappointed in how we reacted to the chaos that was created in practice but that's why we create it here, so they're used to it in the game."

Sports Illustrated's Aug. 20 edition is the college football preview and it has the Bulldogs ranked 65th nationally. According to the magazine, the Bulldogs will finish third in the Western Athletic Conference with a 7-5 record behind 11-1 Boise State and 11-1 Hawaii. The Broncos are predicted to go 8-0 in conference and begin the year ranked 15th nationally. Hawaii is ranked 24th.

Sophomore nose tackle Wilson Ramos was helped off the field Thursday and carted away later with ice wrapped around his left knee.

Highlight

During one-on-one passing drills, receiver Jason Crawley put a stop-and-go move on a defensive back that froze the defender and allowed Crawley to slide back into gear and burn him deep down the right sideline. Crawley capped it with a touchdown dance that was half hip-hop, half "Riverdance."

Audible

"This is for real. Treat it like Madden '08."

-- coach Pat Hill, to receiver/punt returner Chastin West before returning a punt during drills Thursday.