FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – When Northern Arizona and Southern Utah meet Saturday in the Walkup Skydome in the first Big Sky Conference game between the schools, the winner will claim the inaugural HintonBurdick Grand Canyon Trophy.

HintonBurdick, PLLC, is a regional accounting firm with offices located in both home cities featured in the game, Flagstaff and Cedar City, Utah, as well as other Utah locations in St. George, Hurricane and Richfield and Mesquite, Nev. The Flagstaff office includes partners K. Mark Frost, CPA and Kevin L. Stephens, CPA.

"We certainly enjoy this great rivalry game and want to show our support for it," said HintonBurdick partner Mark Frost. "Our CPA firm has offices in Flagstaff and Cedar City and we have many employees and clients who support this rivalry game each year. We felt like this was something we could do to further promote this contest and show our support for these two universities."

The HintonBurdick Grand Canyon Trophy will be presented for the first time Saturday to the winner of the game and will be on display at the winner's school until the next meeting.

"These are two great institutions with tremendous football programs," said Frost, who is a community leader and lifelong Flagstaff resident. "This football rivalry has existed for several years and we hope to elevate this rivalry even more by establishing the Grand Canyon Trophy game. Flagstaff and Cedar City are located on opposite ends of the nearby Grand Canyon and this motivated us to choose the name that we did.  We hope that NAU and SUU and their respective communities will take great pride in helping their team win the game and secure the trophy."

NAU will meet Southern Utah annually in the new 13-member Big Sky Conference with the game alternating between Flagstaff and Cedar City. The two schools are separated by just 287 miles and the Grand Canyon, one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World.

 "This is a rivalry that has been building for years" said Stephens, who played quarterback at NAU and is the color analyst for the Lumberjack Radio Network.  "And now, because of exciting changes within the Big Sky Conference, it means more than ever.  Year in and year out these two great schools will compete towards the end of their season for this trophy and the bragging rights that come with it.  We want that to be a source of community pride for both schools."

"We wanted to add something special to this rivalry game that both institutions would value and look forward to each year," said Stephens.  "We have many clients, employees, and friends of our firm that are graduates and supporters of either NAU or SUU.   We felt like it was a very natural fit to support the rivalry."

College football features numerous rivalry games that are played for annual trophies like Paul Bunyan's Axe (Wisconsin-Minnesota) and the Old Oaken Bucket (Indiana-Purdue). There are four other rivalry games in the Big Sky Conference, including the Montana-Montana State (The Great Divide Trophy), Portland State-Eastern Washington (The Dam Trophy), Sacramento State-Cal Poly (Causeway Classic Trophy) and Cal Poly-UC Davis (The Golden Horseshoe).

 "The Northern Arizona-Southern Utah game has developed into an exciting rivalry on the football field that will be enhanced by the addition of the HintonBurdick Grand Canyon Trophy," said Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Lisa Campos. "We are thankful to HintonBurdick and partners Mark Frost and Kevin Stephens for creating this special trophy."

Kickoff is set for 2:05 p.m. at the Walkup Skydome. Tickets can be bought by calling the Central Ticket Office at 928-523-5661 or by purchasing them online.