BOZEMAN — No. 4 Montana State begins defense of its Big Sky title as reigning conference champions on Saturday when it hosts rival Eastern Washington.
"A lot of the focus is on ourselves," Montana State wide receiver Dane Steel explained of how the team is approaching Big Sky play. "I think that when you go back and look at the past couple games, I think we’re just beating ourselves up.
"I think we’re going to attack it the same way we did Oregon, the same way we did Mercyhurst. Regardless of who’s on that other side, if we’re focusing on ourselves, then we’ll like the scoreboard at the end."
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Montana State corner back Carson Williams expanded on how the team wants to elevate its game as conference play commences.
"Well I mean, the younger guys got to step up, me included," he said. "We got to flip our switch. That’s something that Paul Brott, (Kenneth) Eiden, and all the leaders like JT (Reed) have been telling us, like it’s time to flip the switch. You know, all the younger guys can’t wait around much longer, we got to go now."
Montana State coach Brent Vigen emphasized the 1-0 mentality when talking about the conference title defense.
"We know we need to get better," Vigen said. "There’s no doubt about that. I think we’ve scratched the surface, but we have a long ways to go.
"This is that next step, and it’s against a conference opponent. A team that’s given us fits at times, and a team that has a really strong history. So, we have to put our best foot forward and just be concerned with Eastern Washington right now."
Last season, Montana State had two distinct scoring plays late in the game to pull away from the Eagles and come out on top. Vigen described how the ability to make big plays will be critical this upcoming Saturday as well.
"Having big-play ability is one thing, but having the ability to execute big plays is another thing, and that’s, when given those opportunities is what we need to do," he said.
The game kicks off a 2 p.m. in Bobcat Stadium and will be broadcast on your local Scripps Sports station.
