Still plenty to play for

Big Sky title, home playoff contest, bragging rights all up for grabs in annual gridiron contest

Today's 'Cat-Griz game has the Big Sky championship and a home playoff game on the line for Montana. It has state bragging rights and school pride on the line for Montana State.

It's a familiar scenario for this rivalry game over the last 18 years, and for 16 of them it resulted in a Griz victory. What is unfamiliar in this particular situation this year is the quality of the Bobcats.

This is an MSU team that was in first place in the conference just two weeks ago. But an uncharacteristic defensive breakdown in the two games leading up to the 'Cat-Griz game - resulting in an unforgivable loss to Sacramento State and a bitter overtime defeat to Eastern Washington in a game the Bobcats led by three touchdowns in the second half - has left Montana State as an also-ran in terms of a league title and playoffs.

Should the Bobcats be able to reclaim any of the defensive acumen they showed through the first eight games of the season, then today's 104th Brawl of the Wild could be one for the ages.

Consider that both teams average more than 30 points and 400 yards of offense (MSU is over 500) per game in league play. Both teams have All-American-worthy quarterbacks in Craig Ochs (Montana) and Travis Lulay (Montana State).

And while the Griz won 16 in a row from 1986 to 2001, the Bobcats have won the last two, each time preventing Montana from winning the Big Sky and taking the title for themselves.

All the ingredients are present for the makings of a classic.

"It's definitely still easy to get up, even if it isn't for the Big Sky championship," MSU linebacker and former Flathead star Mac Mollohan said. "One of our goals is to beat the Griz. We'll all be up for it."

For Montana State to have any shot, though, the defense is going to have to rebound after getting shredded two weeks in a row.

"Unfortunately for us, the wheels have come off defensively," Bobcats coach Mike Kramer said. "We've underplayed our own ability. As we look to Saturday, can our down four guys create enough harassment of Craig Ochs to force some turnovers?"

Said Mollohan: "For the front seven, we need to stop the run and we need to get to the quarterback so Ochs doesn't have time to throw it. We need to get after Ochs a lot and help our DBs out."

UM coach Bobby Hauck was confident the Bobcats would get their defense together for today's game.

"They've got a good defense and they'll play well against us," he said. "They've got a good team and we need to play well.

"Our goal on defense remains to improve every week. We need to put our best team out on the field on Saturday."

Kickoff from Washington Grizzly Stadium is scheduled for noon. The game can be seen locally on KAJ-TV, cable channel 8, over the air channel 18. Tom Katz will handle play-by-play with Flathead coach Grady Bennett and Mike Callaghan providing color.

NOTES: Montana leads the series 64-35-5, including 26-14-1 in Missoula. … The Bobcats have turned in 10 100-yard receiving performances over the last five games, eight more than they had all of 2003. … The Grizzlies are enjoying their 19th consecutive winning season and will likely make the playoffs for the 12th straight year. … Lulay will start his 32nd consecutive game at quarterback. The junior is 18-13 during that stretch.