BOBCATS BY THE NUMBERS: 28 Days Until Kickoff!
8/6/2021 2:10:00 PM | Football
A look at the no. 28 in Bobcat football history...
Bobcats by the Numbers takes a look at current and past Bobcats whose jersey numbers correspond to the number of days remaining before Montana State opens the 2021 football season at Wyoming on September 4.
#29
Jaalen Rening, RB: Jaalen Rening adds depth and talent to Montana State's excellent running backs group after an excellent career at Central Valley Christian in Visalia, California. Rening rushed for 169 yards a game as a senior in 2019 and was a two-time all-state and four-time all-conference choice.
Spotlight – Max Stark: As chronicled by historian and author John D. Lukacs, Max Stark's story was amazing. While working at Lockheed Martin in California one summer he helped assemble an airplane for Amelia Earhart, delivered newspapers to Hollywood stars, coached a state championship football team at St. Ignatius in 1948, started wrestling and tennis programs at Polson High... the patchwork of random occurrences and achievements form a beautiful quilt of a life. He taught and coached in western Montana for nearly four decades, and according to a story by Vince Devlin in the Missoulian (March 25, 2003) he book-ended his career by hitchhiking to Montana when he was 13 and spending five years in Alaska after his retirement. In between he impacted so many people in their formative years, most significantly his own 10 children. Numbered among them is legendary Bobcat track and field coach Rob Stark. Max was born in a cabin in the Bitterroot in 1916 and passed away in 2003, and in the middle of it all was a brilliant time at Montana State College in Bozeman. He starred in football and basketball, was Vice President of the Future Farmers organization (he majored in ag business), in an oddity was listed as a junior three consecutive editions of The Montanan annual (1940-41-42), played football and lived in the Pi Kappa Alpha house and walked the beautiful Bozeman campus with the Golden Ghosts, those 13 pre-war Bobcats who made the ultimate sacrifice in America's war effort, and became a lasting part of the legacy of Bobcat football and Montana State University.
Spotlight – Don Cosner: One of Montana State's brilliant athletes of the mid-1930s, Don Cosner holds the distinction as the first Bobcat varsity football player to play in the NFL. (Froster Peters, who played freshman football at Montana State before transferring to Illinois, bounced around the NFL in the early 1930s.) Cosner played in one game for the 1939 Chicago Cardinals, and eventually joined the war effort rising to the rank of Lt. Col. in the U.S. Air Force. He served in World War II, Korea, and Viet Nam, and worked as a civilian military employee in San Antonio after leaving active duty. The product of his mother Rubye's first marriage, Cosner was adopted by Harold Cosner when he and Rubye married, and came Montana State after a sensational prep career in Malta. Cosner also starred for the Bobcat basketball team.
"According to the football annual, Don Cosner is scheduled to go on the gridiron this year. The Bobcat star along with Max Kimberley, star lineman, will do much to bring fame to the Cats in the national football circles." – Montana Exponent, October 5, 1938
"Probably the most versatile man in our backfield of this year's team, was Don Cosner. He was undoubtedly the most effective running back on the squad, while also handling the major part of the passing duties." – 1939 Montanan
Chronology: Fred Harrar (1930), Farrell Griffin (1931), Bill Benson (1934), Don Cosner (1937), Max Stark (1940), Jess Hodgson (1941), Don Dunn (1946), John Gardiner (1947), Owen Speaker (1948), George Grossman (1949), Darwin Rosin (1953), Cecil Kent (1954-55), Doug Kimball (1982-85), Tim Friez (1986-89), Craig Cavey (1990-91), Chris Novasio (1992), Saul Heikkila (1993), Ramsey Alexander (1995), Barry Baumann (1996), Matt Winstron (1999), Marquise Myers (2001), Michael Williams (2002-04), Brian Williams (2005-06), Jimmy Ekumah (2008-09), Cole Moore (2010-11), Fe'ao Vunipola (2012-13), Brandon Davis (2014), West Wilson (2015-17), Kaleb Winterburn (2018-19), Jaalen Rening (2020-)
Other #29 Notes: When Doug Kimball left the Bobcat football program, he possessed just about every kind of honor a college football player can earn. The Chester product, part of a wave of Kimball brothers to the MSU program, was a Big Sky Champion, a National Champion, an All-America, and a First Team All-Big Sky choice. Most impressively, the man called by the school's exceptional SID Bruce Parker "the brains of the secondary" in the 1984 media guide, he was an Academic All-America… Every good football program produces productive walk-ons, players that may not become stars but who contribute in ways not easily measured but which stand as uniquely important. West Wilson was one of those players, a willing and productive special teams standout from 2013-17 who was one of the most outgoing and east-to-get-along-with Bobcats of his era. He also carried with him sublime taste in pro sports teams, and presently works for Bleacher Report.
#29
Jaalen Rening, RB: Jaalen Rening adds depth and talent to Montana State's excellent running backs group after an excellent career at Central Valley Christian in Visalia, California. Rening rushed for 169 yards a game as a senior in 2019 and was a two-time all-state and four-time all-conference choice.
Spotlight – Max Stark: As chronicled by historian and author John D. Lukacs, Max Stark's story was amazing. While working at Lockheed Martin in California one summer he helped assemble an airplane for Amelia Earhart, delivered newspapers to Hollywood stars, coached a state championship football team at St. Ignatius in 1948, started wrestling and tennis programs at Polson High... the patchwork of random occurrences and achievements form a beautiful quilt of a life. He taught and coached in western Montana for nearly four decades, and according to a story by Vince Devlin in the Missoulian (March 25, 2003) he book-ended his career by hitchhiking to Montana when he was 13 and spending five years in Alaska after his retirement. In between he impacted so many people in their formative years, most significantly his own 10 children. Numbered among them is legendary Bobcat track and field coach Rob Stark. Max was born in a cabin in the Bitterroot in 1916 and passed away in 2003, and in the middle of it all was a brilliant time at Montana State College in Bozeman. He starred in football and basketball, was Vice President of the Future Farmers organization (he majored in ag business), in an oddity was listed as a junior three consecutive editions of The Montanan annual (1940-41-42), played football and lived in the Pi Kappa Alpha house and walked the beautiful Bozeman campus with the Golden Ghosts, those 13 pre-war Bobcats who made the ultimate sacrifice in America's war effort, and became a lasting part of the legacy of Bobcat football and Montana State University.
Spotlight – Don Cosner: One of Montana State's brilliant athletes of the mid-1930s, Don Cosner holds the distinction as the first Bobcat varsity football player to play in the NFL. (Froster Peters, who played freshman football at Montana State before transferring to Illinois, bounced around the NFL in the early 1930s.) Cosner played in one game for the 1939 Chicago Cardinals, and eventually joined the war effort rising to the rank of Lt. Col. in the U.S. Air Force. He served in World War II, Korea, and Viet Nam, and worked as a civilian military employee in San Antonio after leaving active duty. The product of his mother Rubye's first marriage, Cosner was adopted by Harold Cosner when he and Rubye married, and came Montana State after a sensational prep career in Malta. Cosner also starred for the Bobcat basketball team.
"According to the football annual, Don Cosner is scheduled to go on the gridiron this year. The Bobcat star along with Max Kimberley, star lineman, will do much to bring fame to the Cats in the national football circles." – Montana Exponent, October 5, 1938
"Probably the most versatile man in our backfield of this year's team, was Don Cosner. He was undoubtedly the most effective running back on the squad, while also handling the major part of the passing duties." – 1939 Montanan
Chronology: Fred Harrar (1930), Farrell Griffin (1931), Bill Benson (1934), Don Cosner (1937), Max Stark (1940), Jess Hodgson (1941), Don Dunn (1946), John Gardiner (1947), Owen Speaker (1948), George Grossman (1949), Darwin Rosin (1953), Cecil Kent (1954-55), Doug Kimball (1982-85), Tim Friez (1986-89), Craig Cavey (1990-91), Chris Novasio (1992), Saul Heikkila (1993), Ramsey Alexander (1995), Barry Baumann (1996), Matt Winstron (1999), Marquise Myers (2001), Michael Williams (2002-04), Brian Williams (2005-06), Jimmy Ekumah (2008-09), Cole Moore (2010-11), Fe'ao Vunipola (2012-13), Brandon Davis (2014), West Wilson (2015-17), Kaleb Winterburn (2018-19), Jaalen Rening (2020-)
Other #29 Notes: When Doug Kimball left the Bobcat football program, he possessed just about every kind of honor a college football player can earn. The Chester product, part of a wave of Kimball brothers to the MSU program, was a Big Sky Champion, a National Champion, an All-America, and a First Team All-Big Sky choice. Most impressively, the man called by the school's exceptional SID Bruce Parker "the brains of the secondary" in the 1984 media guide, he was an Academic All-America… Every good football program produces productive walk-ons, players that may not become stars but who contribute in ways not easily measured but which stand as uniquely important. West Wilson was one of those players, a willing and productive special teams standout from 2013-17 who was one of the most outgoing and east-to-get-along-with Bobcats of his era. He also carried with him sublime taste in pro sports teams, and presently works for Bleacher Report.
Players Mentioned
RB
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