Colorado Springs, Colo.----- San Jose State University will begin defense of its 2020 Mountain West football championship the weekend of September 18 in Honolulu, Hawaii, according to the initial schedule released by the conference office.
The Spartans' 12-game regular season slate includes six home and six away games – eight Mountain West contests and four non-conference games evenly split between home and on the road. Going into the 2021 season as the defending Mountain West champion, San Jose State starts a new two-year cycle of Mountain Division conference opponents with Colorado State, Utah State and Wyoming replacing Air Force, Boise State, and New Mexico.
Coach Brent Brennan, the 2020 Mountain West Coach of the Year, will lead the Spartans on the field against Southern Utah for the season-opener inside CEFCU Stadium the weekend of August 28. San Jose State's other non-conference home game is against New Mexico State the weekend of October 2.
San Diego State on the October 16 weekend, Wyoming on the October 30 weekend, Utah State on the November 13 weekend, and Fresno State as the regular season finale on Thanksgiving weekend.
With 23 starters (10 offense, 13 defense) returning from the conference championship squad, the Spartans will play all three of its September games on the road starting with Southern California of the Pacific-12 Conference on September 4. San Jose State last played the Trojans in 2009, also on Labor Day weekend. Following the Mountain West opener at Hawaii, the Spartans close out the month with their first trip to Kalamazoo Mich., for a non-conference game with Western Michigan.
According to the NCAA, the 2020 San Jose State team played the fifth toughest schedule in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). Spartan opponents combined for a 40-25 win-loss record (.625). Six of the 10 teams facing San Jose State this season had win-loss records of .500 or better last fall. Neither Southern Utah nor New Mexico State played football games in 2020.
With a base schedule now in place, FOX and CBS, the Mountain West's national network television partners, will initiate selection of games that may include either Thursday or Friday night television appearances.
| Weekend | Opponent | Location |
| AUGUST 28 | SOUTHERN UTAH | CEFCU STADIUM |
| September 4 | Southern California | Los Angeles, Calif. |
| September 11 | Bye | |
| September 18 | *Hawai'i | Honolulu, Hawai'i |
| September 25 | Western Michigan | Kalamazoo, Mich. |
| OCTOBER 2 | NEW MEXICO STATE | CEFCU STADIUM |
| October 9 | *Colorado State | Fort Collins, Colo. |
| OCTOBER 16 | *SAN DIEGO STATE | CEFCU STADIUM |
| October 23 | *UNLV | Las Vegas, Nev. |
| OCTOBER 30 | *WYOMING | CEFCU STADIUM |
| November 6 | *Nevada | Reno, Nev. |
| NOVEMBER 13 | *UTAH STATE | CEFCU STADIUM |
| November 20 | Bye | |
| NOVEMBER 27 | *FRESNO STATE | CEFCU STADIUM |
| December 4 | Mountain West Championship | |
| * - Mountain West contest | ||
| Dates are subject to change |