Rivalry remains crucial

Saturday’s football game between Montana and Eastern Washington University was supposed to be a matchup between the two best teams in the Big Sky Conference.

It may still prove to be that.

But the unexpected losses suffered by both schools last weekend seem to have taken some luster off the showdown and added the element of desperation – particularly as far as EWU (2-3, 1-1) is concerned – to the equation.

Montana (4-1, 0-1) could probably survive a second loss and keep its postseason hopes in tow. There is a good chance, however, that a fourth loss might drop Eastern out of the postseason picture.

Eagles coach Beau Baldwin hinted at such a possibility on Wednesday when he said, “For us, maybe, our backs are up a little bit against the wall.”

But he added that he doesn’t expect much else to change about Saturday’s game, which will start at 2:05 p.m. in front of a sellout crowd that is expected to number more than 11,000.

“I know with Montana, it doesn’t matter what their record is or what their situation is, they always going to play the same way, and that’s hard and aggressive and fast,” Baldwin said. “They come to play for 60 minutes every year, every game.”

Grizzlies coach Bobby Hauck, like Baldwin, doesn’t think the game’s status was diminished in the least by either Eastern’s loss to Portland State or his team’s loss to Weber State last weekend.

“I think it was going to a big game, regardless, and that hasn’t changed,” Hauck said. “It’s still way early in the season. I don’t know who would term this a must win, certainly not me.”

Hauck said that on two occasions during his six-year stay at Montana, the Grizzlies have earned a share of the Big Sky title with two losses – once in 2003, when they tied Montana State and Northern Arizona, and again in 2005, when they finished as regular-season co-champions along with Eastern and Montana State.

Last-minute letdowns

Colorado State (0-4, 0-1) suffered its third consecutive final-minute loss last Saturday when UC Davis completed a 38-yard desperation pass on the final play of the game to beat the Bears 34-30.

Prior to that, UNC had lost to Texas State 38-35, after fumbling the ball away on a quarterback sneak from the Bobcats’ 1-yard line in the game’s final 30 seconds, and to Northern Arizona 25-22, when a two-point conversion try with just more than a minute remaining went awry because of a bad snap that the Lumberjacks recovered and returned for two points.

Quick kicks

Northern Arizona’s 42-10 rout of Sacramento State last weekend gave Lumberjacks coach Jerome Souers his 59th career win and moved him ahead of Max Spilsbury into the No. 1 spot on the school’s list of winningest coaches. … Eastern Washington’s junior quarterback Matt Nichols leads all Football Championship Subdivision players in total offense with an average of 347.0 yards per game, while teammate Greg Peach, a senior defensive end, leads the country in sacks with an average of 1.40. Idaho State’s senior wide receiver Eddie Thompson is the nation’s leading pass catcher with an average of 10.0 receptions per game. … The Big Sky has four teams – No. 12 Montana, No. 18 Northern Arizona, No. 22 Weber State and No. 23 Eastern Washington – ranked in this week’s Sports Network Top-25 Poll. … After holding its previous three rivals to a combined minus-57 yards on the ground, NAU’s defense allowed Sacramento State 21 yards on 41 rushing attempts last Saturday.