MISSOULA, Mont. - Texas, meet Chase Reynolds.

Montana's sophomore running back rushed for a career-high 233 yards and two touchdowns Saturday and the Grizzlies rallied to down Texas State 31-13 in the first round of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.

The fifth-ranked Grizzlies (12-1), seeded fourth in postseason play, will have a chance to avenge their only loss of the season when they host a quarterfinal game next weekend against Weber State, a 49-35 winner at Cal Poly Saturday night.

Reynolds carried 38 times, also a personal best, and became the first Montana back to rush for 200 yards in a playoff game. It was the sixth straight 100-yard game for the former eight-man football star from Drummond, who gained 995 yards in the regular season.

No. 23 Texas State (8-5) grabbed a 10-0 lead in the first quarter on Andrew Ireland's 47-yard field goal in the rain and a 16-yard touchdown pass from Bradley George to Cameron Luke. The Bobcats scored only once more, on another Ireland field goal late in the third quarter.

The momentum began to swing Montana's way late in the first quarter when Texas State's star back, Karrington Bush, fumbled the ball away after a short Grizzly punt.

"That's kind of where it started," said Montana coach Bobby Hauck. "They were up 10 and had the ball, and things were looking bleak. The good news is we have a resilient bunch of guys and we have a lot of know-how on our coaching staff. Our defense hunkered down."

The game's momentum changed when Reynolds and senior quarterback Cole Bergquist spearheaded a 10-play, 89-yard drive in the closing minutes of the first half.

Reynolds started the march with runs of 11 and 12 yards. Bergquist, who had completed just 4 of 11 passes to that point, was 4-for-4. The last two completions were to hobbled receiver Marc Mariani, one on third down to keep the drive alive and the second for a 14-yard touchdown.

Montana wiped out its 10-7 halftime deficit by scoring TDs on its first three series of the second half to take a 28-13 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Bergquist scored on a 21-yard scramble, Reynolds leapt over a fallen defender for a 4-yard scoring run and then vaulted in from a yard out. The latter drive went 80 yards and was aided by two personal foul penalties against Texas State.

Brody McKnight added Montana's final points with a 37-yard field goal with 5:10 to play.

Texas State, the surprise Southland Conference champion, saw its streak of five straight road victories end. Bush, a 1,000-yard rusher for the Bobcats, finished with 26 yards on just seven carries.

George connected of 21 of 33 passes for 259 yards and a touchdown for the Bobcats. But Montana's defense forced three turnovers and held Texas State, the nation's fourth-ranked scoring offense, far below its average of 38.3 points.

Bergquist was 13 of 23 passing for 177 yards and two interceptions. He admitted the steady drizzle in the first half bothered him at first.

"I came out and the balls were a lot slicker than I thought they were and I couldn't really get a good grip on them," he said. "I overthrew a couple and that really didn't help our offense get off to a good start."

The Grizzlies of the Big Sky Conference, making their 16th straight playoff appearance, rushed for 286 yards.

"Montana just decided to line up in different formations with a bunch of big guys and run it down our throats, and that's what they did," said Texas State coach Brad Wright.

The Bobcats trailed just 21-13 at the start of the fourth quarter. But Montana was in the midst of an 80-yard scoring drive that was boosted by late hit calls against Texas State's Adley Eshraghipour and Kenneth Hampton after short runs. Reynolds scored on his 1-yard run four plays after the latter to put the home team up 28-13 with 12:50 to play.

On Texas State's next possession, tackle Calvin Gore was ejected for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after a first-down run by Bush.

"Obviously the penalties and the mistakes hurt at any level, but especially against a team like Montana," Wright said. "We kind of sealed our own fate with the penalties and not putting the ball in the end zone."

A loud Thanksgiving weekend crowd of 19,489 helped force the Bobcats into several illegal procedure penalties.

"I wish we could bottle it up and take it back to San Marcos," Wright said. "It's obviously very important to the people of Montana to watch the Grizzlies play."