Grizzlies hope bye week a positive thing

College football's bye week can be a blessing or curse. If your team has a lot of injuries, just isn't playing well or has a big game on the other side, then it can be blessing.

But if your team is on a roll and playing well, a week off can derail momentum midseason.

For the fourth-ranked Montana Grizzlies, their bye more closely resembles the latter scenario. The Griz have won four in a row and tied for first atop the Big Sky.

Coach Bobby Hauck, however, thinks his team benefited from the down time.

"It was good," he said Tuesday from his office in Missoula. "It gave us a chance to work on fundamentals, and it also gave our coaches a chance to go out and recruit."

It also allowed any injured players to recuperate.

"That's obviously beneficial," Hauck said. "They get another week of treatment and rehab, but we weren't real banged up to begin with.

"The thing you worry about is it does take you out of a rhythm. We had won four in a row and were on a bit of a roll.

"It's always interesting. You never know if it's going to fall for you at the right time."

Still, the second-year head coach is confident the week off - such as it is - helped the team, and Montana will be ready for its last regular season road trip, at Portland State.

"Everybody does it differently," Hauck said of the bye week. "We lifted four times and practiced three times in full pads.

"It was productive for us. And evidenced by yesterday's practice, we had one of our better practices of the year, our kids are ready to go."

. RIVALRY RENEWED: While not approaching the fervor of the 'Cat-Griz game, or even the Governor's Cup with Eastern Washington, Saturday's trip to Portland State does have a bit of history behind it.

When they kick off at 4:30 p.m. MDT, it will mark the 32nd meeting between the schools. Montana is the Vikings' most-played opponent, making the Griz the closest thing to a rival PSU has.

Montana leads the series 21-10, including a 10-7 mark in Portland and an 11-3 in Missoula. The Griz have won four in a row and seven of the eight games since Portland State joined the Big Sky. The Vikings' only win was a 51-48 win in Portland in 1999.