Eastern at Montana

KICKOFF: 12:05 p.m. at Washington-Grizzly Stadium in Missoula

Records: EWU 4-2, 3-1 Big Sky; Montana 5-0, 2-0

TV/Radio: SWX/1510-AM

Overview: Eastern Washington’s resiliency gets a big test as the 21st-ranked Eagles, coming off a 31-13 home loss to Weber State, take on the Big Sky Conference’s best in third-ranked Montana. The unbeaten Grizzlies have won 14 straight conference home games since losing to EWU 34-20 in Missoula in 2005, but the Eagles threw a big scare their way in 2007 before losing 24-23. As usual, Eastern has the more impressive individual offensive numbers, with sophomore running back Taiwan Jones averaging 106.8 rushing yards per game and a league-best 8.4 yards per carry, and record-setting senior quarterback Matt Nichols throwing for an average of 254.8 yards per game. But Montana remains as balanced and solid at every position as any team in the Big Sky. The Grizzlies lead the league in such important – but unglamorous – categories as third-down conversions (37 of 74), fourth-down conversions (8 of 8), turnover margin (plus-1). They also have the Big Sky’s top scoring offense (36 points per game) and stingiest defense (16.8 ppg), which means Eastern will need to eliminate or greatly reduce the number of mistakes it made in last weekend’s loss.