This Week in the Big Sky

Eastern Washington (8-1, 5-1) at Northern Arizona (6-3, 4-2)

Eastern Washington can clinch a tie for the conference title with a victory. Northern Arizona must win or fall from contention. Each team has only one game remaining after tonight, both against Cal State Northridge. Eastern Washington, ranked No. 8 in The Sports Network poll, has won six conference games in a season once, in 1992. The Eagles are coming off their fourth consecutive victory, a 24-21 squeaker over Division I-A Idaho in Spokane. Tight end Jeff Ogden caught passes of 38 and 23 yards with less than a minute to play to set up Rex Prescott’s three-yard touchdown run with 34 seconds on the clock. Prescott and Harry Leons (270 yards passing) accounted for 369 of Eastern Washington’s 380 yards. Ogden has 46 receptions for 972 yards and 11 touchdowns, tops in the Big Sky. Prescott leads the conference with 1,012 yards rushing. Sixteenth-ranked Northern Arizona was surprised by Idaho State, 41-24, in Pocatello. Travis Brown had five passes intercepted, raising his season total to a Big Sky-worst 19. John Bonds set the Lumberjack season record with 24 in 1990. Brown, a sophomore who is 12 yards shy of his second consecutive 3,000-yard passing season, has had 28 passes picked off in his career. The Lumberjacks last won a Big Sky title in 1978.

Montana (5-3, 3-2) at Portland State (4-5, 3-3)

Aided by three interceptions in the first quarter, Montana shook off Northridge, 21-13, last Saturday in Missoula. The Grizzlies, ranked 13th, are two-time defending Big Sky champions. They can make a run for a third straight by winning their final three games if Eastern Washington slips. But before the Grizzlies start looking too far ahead, they better take Portland State seriously. The Vikings, losers of their first four games, have rebounded nicely. They are particularly tough at home, winning three of four, including a 44-0 rout of Montana State two weeks ago. Redshirt freshman Charles Dunn, from Pasadena Muir High, rushed for 165 yards last week in Portland State’s 27-13 victory over Cal State Sacramento.

Cal State Sacramento (1-7, 1-5) at Weber State (4-4, 2-3)

Your basic yawner. Weber State, fresh from a 28-14 loss at Montana State, has superior talent and the ever-important home-field advantage. In Big Sky games this season, home teams are 19-6, with Weber State sporting a 2-0 record in that department. Sacramento is 0-3 in conference games on the road and the Hornets are 2-17 overall the past two seasons. Lately, Weber State has been in a nose dive. The Wildcats are four of 29 in third-down conversions in the past two games and have not scored more than 20 points in the past three outings. Safety Scott Shields needs one interception to become Weber State’s career leader with 16.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (7-1) at Montana State (5-3)

Nonconference

Montana State takes a break in Big Sky action before visiting Sacramento next Saturday and playing host to Montana on Nov. 22 with possibly first place, and probably a spot to the I-AA playoffs, on the line. San Luis Obispo, a I-AA independent, is ranked No. 23 and has a good chance to make the playoffs with an at-large bid.