BILLINGS - Rocky Mountain College fans, alumni and, in particular, the football guys have a big weekend for three reasons.
It's Homecoming. It's Hall of Fame Weekend. And the gridiron guys want to erase the taste of last week's 44-7 loss at Carroll.
The Battlin' Bears (2-1) briefly held a 7-6 lead in the opening quarter, but it was all Saints all day from there. Drew Korf was intercepted three times while Carroll's offense marched up and down the field at will.
Rocky players took it personally.
"Yes, for sure. As individuals, we talked a lot about one-on-ones and stuff, and we weren't winning one-on-ones," said defensive back Ty Reynolds. "That just comes down to want. Coming into the season we were hungry, we won a couple games, that hunger went down. Then that (loss at Carroll) happened and our hunger is coming back."
Bears head coach Chris Stutzriem simplified it.
"As I told the guys, I said, 'You know, we were the little brother in that game.' And now teams are looking at our two wins going, 'Did we beat anybody good? Did we beat anybody that we should've? Did we surprise anybody or were we better?' I've challenged them all week to be aggressive, get after them (Montana Western), and I think they're going to rise to the occasion," Stutzriem said.
Saturday would be a great time to pull it off in front of Rocky's alumni and Hall of Fame inductees. Kickoff against against Montana Western (2-0) is set for 1 p.m. at Herb Klindt Field.