The planets and stars aligned with Hornet Stadium Saturday night as the Sacramento Mountain Lions absolutely embarrassed the Omaha Nighthawks 41-3 in front of 20,000 live fans.

Omaha’s loss eliminated them from championship game contention and may give Sacramento (4-4) a chance to compete against Las Vegas (5-2) if Omaha can defeat Florida (4-3) next week.

Sacramento coach Dennis Green said the Mountain Lions lived up to their potential this game and, playing the way they did, they are as good as any team in the UFL.

“This was clearly our best game of the year,” Green said.

Right from the coin toss Sacramento did everything right, opening the game with a flea flicker from running back Cory Ross to quarterback Dante Culpepper, who completed a 59-yard sling to Taye Biddle. Ross ran the ball in soon after for an early 7-0 lead, and the Mountain Lions never looked back.

Sacramento completed the first half with 201 passing yards and 82 rushing yards, Culpepper rushing for 31 of those himself. Trailing by 17 at the half, Omaha, though not out of the game yet, may have been feeling the mental weight of the point deficit and their continued mistakes – two fumbles and many wasted opportunities.

Omaha head coach Jeff Jagodzinski attributed his team’s loss to easy turnovers given to Sacramento coupled with an inability to execute basic football fundamentals – they simply didn’t play well, he said. As for the mental component of playing behind the other team, he said that a 10-point lead isn’t a big deal, but after trailing by enough points, any team begins to feel the weight of that.

Sacramento’s Cory Ross had a remarkable game, with 39 receiving yards in six catches and 125 rushing yards in 11 carries, including a 75-yard scoring run in the third quarter. He didn’t do it alone, though, as every Mountain Lion on the field was in great form, providing aggressive blocking and giving Ross the holes he needed to push back Omaha while the defensive line made sure Omaha never held the ball long enough to make anything happen.

“He’s just getting better as the season goes on,” Green said of Ross. “He always has. I think it’s part of coming from Nebraska, where things are hard-nosed and tough. By the time November comes around, it’s cold and the ground’s hard and they have their best games coming up. Cory always played well at the end of the year, and he still does that.”

If winning by 38 points doesn’t tell the whole story, there was a play near the end of the third quarter that did. Omaha had possession on their own 40-yard line. Quarterback Jeff Garcia took the snap and looked for an open receiver. His defense was crumbling. He started shuffling. He backed up. Sacramento’s defensive line was closing in. He started side-stepping toward the sideline, still looking for a receiver. With three Mountain Lions about to pounce on him, he threw a long, desperate pass down the sideline that was nearly intercepted, knocked to the ground incomplete. Constant pressure and aggression from Sacramento marginalized Omaha’s ability to make a good play, and in desperation, Omaha, completely dominated, was forced to hand Sacramento a gift. That play was the CliffsNotes version of the game.