The Contra Costa College football team has a lunch pail approach and a hunger to make history.

Coach Alonzo Carter's squad is trying to become the first champion of the new American-Pacific 7 Conference. The Comets (6-1, 3-0) can take a big step toward that objective with a win over visiting Shasta (6-1, 3-0) on Saturday. Kickoff is 3 p.m.

"It is pretty big one," Carter said of the showdown.

In his fifth season in San Pablo, Carter goes by the see it, believe it, achieve it method.

Clearly, he has worked wonders with a once-woeful program. The Comets went 4-6 and 6-4 in his first two years after winning just once in their previous two years combined.

In 2012, they really got rolling. An 8-3 record included an outright Bay Valley Conference title and a bowl victory. Last year, they went 7-4 and shared the BVC title with Los Medanos and Shasta, before dropping a bowl game 37-26 to Hartnell.

Before taking the job at Contra Costa, Carter went 25-8-1 over three seasons at Berkeley High. His final year, the Yellowjackets won their first North Coast Section playoff game since 1996. Previous to that, Carter's McClymonds' teams were 57-35 over eight seasons.

This season, the Comets overcame the jolt of losing of outside linebacker Takkarist McKinley, the top-rated junior college prospect in California by 247Sports.com, after he signed with UCLA on Sept. 15.

Carter said McKinley was "respected" and "loved" by his teammates and left with the Comets' blessing, but his departure put a "little bit of a wrench in what we wanted to do."

But the cupboard is far from bare. The Comets defense ranks in the top 10 in the state in passing yardage allowed, total yards per game and scoring.

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Contra Costa College seeks championship goal