The Pistol is going international

RENO - The Pistol offense is going international.

Jim Mastro, Nevada's recruiting coordinator and running backs coach, said Wednesday morning that he has been invited to Switzerland for a one-week clinic this summer to teach Nevada's offense to football coaches throughout the tiny country.

"I won't be able to watch anybody play or anything like that," Mastro said. "I'm there to work with the coaches; the national coaches and the club coaches.

"A guy I know through a third party called me. He said they would bring me over there for a week so I could teach them our offense. You wouldn't believe how many calls we get about our offense."

This is the third year that Nevada will use the offense, which has the quarterback lined up about four yards behind center. It's an offense that Nevada has executed effectively both running and throwing the ball.

• Mastro was extremely happy with the way junior Luke Lippincott ran in last Saturday's scrimmage.

Lippincott led Nevada's ground game with 72 yards on 17 carries, a vast improvement from the first scrimmage. Mastro said that Lippincott was nursing a tender ankle during the first scrimmage, and that he is healthy now.

Mastro loves the depth Nevada has at running back, and the Pack has five or six guys whio can get the job done.

Nobody has stepped up to claim the starting job yet, but when fall camp starts, it figures to be a battle between Lippincott, Brandon Fragger, who is coming off shoulder surgery, and Courtney Randall. Returnees Mike Kanellis and Dwayne Sanders along with redshirt freshmen Kevin Grimes and Vai Taua also are in the mix.

• Nevada's annual Spring game is scheduled for Saturday at 10 a.m. at Mackay Stadium. Admission is free.

Nevada's defense, led by Josh Mauga, Paul Pratt, Ezra Butler and Matt Hines, has dominated the Pack offense in the first two scrimmages.