A month ago, the Montana State football team was reeling.

Now, it may be one upset victory away from a most improbable playoff appearance.

"It's sort of been in the back of everybody's mind since we lost our second league game," Montana State coach Rob Ash said Wednesday on a conference call. "How long ago was that? Ten years ago?"

That was Oct. 18, when the Bobcats lost 34-17 to Eastern Washington - in Bozeman, no less. But since, they've won four games in a row to climb to 7-4 overall and 5-2 in the Big Sky.

With a victory Saturday over Montana at Washington-Grizzly Stadium in Missoula, the Bobcats would build themselves a flawed but compelling postseason resume in their bid for one of eight at-large spots in the 16-team FCS bracket.

That will be determined on Sunday afternoon, with No. 8 Weber State (7-0, 9-2) and No. 5 Montana (6-1, 10-1) all but assured spots. It will be Montana State sitting uncertainly.

Still, Ash said it's not the focus of their preparation this week.

"It's in the back of your mind but doesn't change anything else," Ash said. "We're not spending a lot of time sending out flyers promoting our chances. We're just trying to win a game."

Should the Bobcats earn their much-needed victory, it would almost certainly prevent the Grizzlies from receiving a top-four seed - if they had any hope at doing so in the first place.

Weber State can clinch the outright Big Sky championship by beating Eastern Washington on Saturday. Such a distinction for a team out of what the Sagarin Ratings deem the third-best FCS conference would seem to bode well for the Wildcats' shot at a top-four seed.

Weber State coach Ron McBride said he would worry about that in a few days, though, not before facing an Eastern Washington team that has won three of its last four games. He just wants to get to 8-0 in the league first.

"We don't want to tie with anybody," Weber State coach Ron McBride said. "We've come this far. We want to go one more step."

Lumberjacks 'D' sets rushing record

Northern Arizona finished the Big Sky season with 658 total rushing yards allowed, breaking the conference record Montana State set in 1966 by a single yard.

But that didn't improve the mood of coach Jerome Souers, whose team lost its final four conference games after winning its first four.

"We had two different seasons. One that started out well, and when we started getting into bigger games on the schedule, it really got away from us," Souers said. "So no, the statistics mean very little to us actually."

With sack yards included, the Lumberjacks allowed 14 total rushing yards through their first four Big Sky games.

But in their final four contests, they allowed single-game totals of 74, 223, 194 and 91 yards plus seven total rushing touchdowns.

Weber State's Smith continues record climb

Junior Trevyn Smith, Weber State's all-time leading rusher, is poised to write his name on a few more of the Big Sky's all-time lists this weekend.

His 1,173 rushing yards this season are 62 more than Montana State's Demetrius Crawford. Should Smith maintain an advantage after Saturday's games, he will win the Big Sky rushing title for the third straight year. Only Idaho's Sherriden May has accomplished that feat in conference history.

Smith ranks 10th on the Big Sky's all-time rushing list with 3,616 yards. Conceivably, Smith could climb all the way to fifth if the Wildcats go deep enough in the playoffs should he maintain his season average of 106.6 yards per game.

Breakout

Big Sky all-time rushing leaders

Player, team Years Yards

1. Charles Roberts, SSU 1997-00 6,553

2. Charles "Chip" Dunn, PSU 1997-00 6,007

3. Charvez Foger, NEV 1985-88 4,484

4. Cedric Minter, BSU 1977-80 4,475

5. Jesse Chatman, EWU 1999-01 4,173

6. Lex Hilliard, UM 2003-05, 07 4,016

7. Sherriden May, UI 1991-94 3,748

8. Ryan Fuqua, PSU 2001-04 3,709

9. Ryan Johnson, MSU 1999-02 3,646

10. Trevyn Smith, WSU 2006-Pres. 3,616