BOZEMAN — No. 5 Montana State returns home Saturday and is coming off a dominant road victory over ranked Northern Arizona, while Idaho State narrowly lost 42-38 to No. 4 Montana last week.
For MSU, it’s all about staying the course. The Bobcats have stacked up four wins in four weeks and want to make it five before going into the bye week.
"(After) a big road win like that, it’s just coming back, knowing what you got to do is get back to work," Montana State defensive lineman Zack Black said. "The goal every week is to go 1-0, and it’s an awesome thing that we completed that this past week, but we’ve got bigger goals and bigger fish to fry, so the goal is obviously to always go 1-0 every week."
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The defense continues to hold FCS opponents to 10 points per game. The defensive line is relentless in the pass rush.
"That comes down to the standard, man," Black explained. "We all live up to it. The standard is the lowest version of yourself or of the group that you’re willing to accept, and the coaches do a really good job keeping us to live up to that."
Idaho State had over 400 yards passing last Saturday. Bengals quarterback Jordan Cooke has a handful of receivers he can target.
"When he’s going, they’re really going," Montana State coach Brent Vigen explained. "He’s got a really live arm. He’s able to extend plays. He’s had stretches where he makes throws that you shake your head at, quite honestly."
MSU quarterback Justin Lamson has been hitting multiple targets for large gains and touchdowns, as well, as the group continues to come together as conference play progresses.
"Justin’s a competitor," Cats wide receiver Jabez Woods said. "He takes the time, shoot, even before our actual meetings, he’ll get in and call us and be like, ‘Hey, guys, let’s go watch some film. Make sure we get our timing and stuff down.' Really just working with him, and having our coaches, coach (Pete) Sterbick, coach (Sam) Mix, coach (Josh) Firm, they always believe in us. They always instill the confidence in us."
It’s a 1 p.m. kickoff Saturday in Bobcat Stadium, and the game will air on Scripps stations across Montana.
