 The new stadium brought with it a renewed success for the football team, as they enjoyed four Big West championships in the new stadium which took them to five California Bowl appearances against opponents from the Mid-American Conference.During the Sweeney era, the Bulldogs posted nine consecutive winning seasons, a run which included five double-digit win seasons.1994, however, marked the beginning of three consecutive losing seasons which ended the Sweeney era and brought in Pat Hill, who had worked both in the NFL and colleges for the past several decades—including a stint as an assistant under Sweeney from 1984 to 1989.