Before the 2012 football season began, Big Sky commissioner Doug Fullerton made the statement that his conference was “the heart of the American West as far as athletics is concerned.”

    He added that the West “is obviously something that we control.”

    Fullerton’s words rang true in just the second weekend of college football as two Big Sky teams defeated FBS squads and one more had a chance at the end to pull an upset of its own.

    Sacramento State knocked off Colorado 30-28 for its second win over a PAC-12 foe in as many years while Northern Arizona shocked UNLV 17-14 in Las Vegas. Eastern Washington came within 17 yards of upsetting Washington State. These contests were all part of a Saturday that saw the Big Sky very much put itself on the map of the West.

    Although the conference finished the weekend with a record of 6-6 (Portland State and North Dakota played one another), its success in this particular case is measured in quality of wins, not quantity.

    Northern Arizona hadn’t beaten an FBS team in 25 years and while UNLV may not be the cream of the crop, it has to feel good for Jerome Souers to beat the Runnin’ Rebels on their home turf.

    I’m starting to think that UNLV head coach Bobby Hauck is really regretting leaving Montana for the not-so-comfy confines of Las Vegas.

    He’s really feeling the heat right now.

    Sacramento State is on a roll. As I mentioned, it’s the second year in a row that the Hornets have beaten a PAC-12 opponent (29-28 over Oregon State in overtime last season).

    Every team at the FCS level needs what are called “money games” to support their respective athletic departments. These contests are often referred to as “body bag games” because a squad takes a physical and mental beating just to earn the paycheck. Well, Sacramento State added insult to injury as it walked out of Boulder $460,000 richer.

    That will teach the Buffaloes to schedule Big Sky teams ever again.

    Other victorious teams were Idaho State, Montana State, Northern Colorado and North Dakota.

    It remains to be seen if the conference can keep this momentum going. Regardless, Fullerton was dead on with his statement.

    Fear the Sky.