Steve Mooshagian and Terry Wanless stood outside the Sacramento State alumni center Wednesday afternoon, the football coach and athletic director just five minutes removed from a news conference about the future of Hornets athletics.

Across the street, a construction crew was hard at work next to the football field, jackhammers hitting the ground some 200 feet from the end zone and scoreboard.

"What are they doing?" Wanless asked.

"Oh, they're building our new field house," Mooshagian said wishfully.

There were no surprises at the event captained by first-year President Alexander Gonzalez, who officially confirmed the recommendations of the 10-person task force he selected in October.

Sac State will be looking to build an 8,000-seat arena for the basketball and volleyball teams and the students. The Hornets may or may not leave the Big Sky Conference for another league. And, unfortunately for Moosha-gian, there are no imminent plans for a field house or any upgrades to the football stadium.

But for Mooshagian and Co., there was hope in the words of Dave Raske, the task-force chair who offered more insight than Gonzalez. Long after the news vans went away, Raske said Gonzalez's vagueness is not necessarily a sign of doom.

"(Gonzalez) never expressed any concern with football or an interest of eliminating it as a sport at this university," said Raske, headed for his car in the parking lot. "I believe it's part of his vision. His vision is to have a flagship university, and that must include football to meet that definition. That's the direction he's led us from the very beginning, and that's what he wants this place to be."

Earlier, meanwhile, Gonzalez again refused to commit to football's future.

"This is my seventh month, and how many edicts can I issue?" Gonzalez said. " ... I don't think it's appropriate yet for me to make any statements like that at all. I have been supportive, been to the games. I'm there. I think coach Mooshagian has done a great job, I think the students played their hearts out, but the circumstances are what they are, and I think we need to look at it very carefully."

Despite receiving no sign of a vote of confidence from the president, Mooshagian said his confidence is "at an all-time high."

Then he let out a couple of secrets, tidbits he said should explain his optimism.

It seems Mooshagian knows Gonzalez in ways he never let on until Wednesday, dating to Gonzalez's time at Fresno State. During Gonzalez's 18 years there, where he began as an assistant professor in the psychology department and left his post as university provost in 1997, Gonzalez was a neighbor of Mooshagian's parents. Mooshagian considers Gonzalez a friend of the family and expects nothing but friendly treatment.

"Dr. Gonzalez is very methodical in his ways," said Mooshagian, explaining why Gonzalez hasn't committed to football's future. "He has his reasons. He's going to take his steps in order, deliberately. And right now, football is not publicly in his order. ... Football is here, and it's here to stay."

Mooshagian -- the victim of bad timing as he wraps up recruiting before the Feb. 4 letter-of-intent day -- also said he has turned down three NFL assistant coaching jobs since the end of last season, positions he wouldn't refuse if he thought football was in danger.

"If I walk out of town, that's when you'll know that football is in trouble," he said.

What's without debate is that football's place is up in the air, at least publicly. A move to the Big West, which does not compete in football, would not necessarily eliminate the sport at Sac State, but the Hornets would either be independent or in search of another conference. Remaining in the Big Sky seems less than desirable for nearly every team outside of football. Players like Billy White, a freshman wide receiver from Granite Bay High School, are unhappy there's any debate.

"It's frustrating," White said. "It's almost like they don't have any confidence in our ability to bring attention to the school. ... The idea of not having football is not really cool."

For coaches like volleyball's Debby Colberg and men's basketball's Jerome Jenkins, it was a day to rejoice.

"The president seems really committed to (facilities), and that's heartening to hear," Colberg said.

"That's good news," Jenkins said by phone from Idaho (the Hornets play at Idaho State tonight). "Now Sac State has some good people who are determined to get this done. As long as Sac State wants me around, I'll take this program higher."

Gonzalez meets with the state university board of trustees next week to approve the master plan, which includes the arena and "the possibility of expanding and making more permanent the stadium for football."

Decisions regarding conference, costs and arena funding, and the future of the school's football program, will be announced "at the latest by the end of the semester," he said.