Nevada announces 2009 football schedule

The Nevada football team will take on six bowl teams from the 2008 season and will appear on national television at least five times during the 2009 season, the school said Wednesday.

The Wolf Pack's schedule will take the team to Notre Dame and Colorado State to open the season before home games against Missouri and UNLV.

Nevada's conference schedule is highlighted by a trio of national TV games.

"The schedule is certainly exciting and it is loaded with some great opportunities," Nevada coach Chris Ault said. "It is a stimulus package all in itself."

Nevada will open the season Sept. 5 at Notre Dame in the first ever matchup between the schools. That game will be carried by NBC. Following a bye week, the Wolf Pack will travel to Colorado State in the first of a two-game series between the Pack and the Rams.

Nevada will then play host to Missouri in the home opener at Mackay Stadium on Sept. 25 in a game that will be broadcast on ESPN. That will be the first of three straight games at home as in-state rival UNLV comes to Mackay on Oct. 3 and Louisiana Tech (ESPN) travels to Reno for the Pack's Western Athletic Conference opener on Oct. 9.

Nevada will play at Utah State on Oct. 17 and then come back to Mackay for back-to-back home games against Idaho (Oct. 24) and Hawaii (Oct. 31).

The fourth national TV appearance " and third on ESPN " will be Nov. 8 as Nevada travels to San Jose State to face the Spartans. The final home game of the season is Nov. 14 as the Wolf Pack hosts Fresno State.

Nevada concludes the regular season with a pair of road games. First up is New Mexico State on Nov. 21. Then comes the finale at Boise State on ESPN2 on Nov. 27, the Friday after Thanksgiving.