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The non-league games that are usually played in August and September can be key indicators to determine the relative strength of conferences, and this year there are more of those games than ever because of the extra weekend during the FCS calendar.

As the head coach of the Drake University football team, Todd Stepsis is all about putting his players in memorable situations.

As the Eastern Washington defense was carving up the Monmouth offense in the Eagles’ 42-27 season-opening victory on Thursday night at Roos Field, the Monmouth defense was struggling to do the same to Eastern’s counterpart. That imbalance wasn’t so common last season, when the Eagles frequently found themselves in scoring shootouts.

There was little doubt around the Eastern Washington football team this preseason that it was going to have plenty of options offensively.

Late afternoon heats into one of those blistering triple-digit early evenings in eastern Washington. Carrying smoke from a wildfire, the breeze feels like an acetylene torch. It’s mid-July in Cheney, and those with sense are at a lake or within arm’s reach of unlimited cold beverages. But in a small, windowless office on the Eastern Washington campus, Aaron Best is grinding. It’s what he does.

Roster space is crunched because the pressure to succeed leads FCS teams to accept transfers from FBS schools at higher rates than they used to. Eastern Washington, as just one example, has 27 transfers on its current roster. In 2020, it had four.

Eastern Washington enters this fall trying to avoid a third straight losing season, something the program hasn’t experienced since five consecutive such seasons from 1987 through 1991.

The last time Brock Harrison knew Eastern Washington was going to be good at football was about this time three years ago, as the Eagles prepared to open the 2021 season.

In nonconference FCS matchups like the one that will play out at Roos Field on Thursday in Cheney, sometimes a team’s reputation precedes itself.

Eastern Washington’s roster this season has 29 transfers on it, but the Eagles’ two-deep depth chart released Monday demonstrates just how much the program relies on the players it has signed and developed out of high school.

It’s been five years since Eastern Washington played a 12-game regular season, a scheduling allowance only possible when the calendar falls just right.