FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (November 11, 2025) – For the final time in the regular season, Northern Arizona plays at Findlay Toyota Field at the Walkup Skydome on Saturday at 2 p.m. MST versus Cal Poly. The home finale will serve as Senior Day for 28 Lumberjacks who will be recognized prior to kickoff.
"If you believe, work extremely hard and play for one another, great things can happen and you can change the trajectory of a program," said head coach
Brian Wright. "That's what this group of seniors has done. They have launched us into a new direction of more consistent winning. I'm so proud of them. We all came together in so many different ways and I'm looking forward to giving them a big hug on Saturday."
Mitch Strohman, Kevin Stephens and Adriana Sparks will have the radio call on the Northern Arizona Healthcare NAU Lumberjack Radio Network beginning with the pregame show at 1:30 p.m. MST. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+. Tickets are available to purchase at this
link.
Saturday will mark the Lumberjacks' final game in Flagstaff this season, pending a home FCS Playoff game. A win would be NAU's ninth at home over the last two seasons, a number last reached between the 2012 and 2013 campaigns.
NAU will look to continue its push towards an FCS Playoff bid after putting together its most complete game of the season last week. The Lumberjacks (6-4, 3-3 Big Sky) got back into the win column with a 49-10 Homecoming victory over Northern Colorado. The win also moved NAU back into the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 at No. 24. The Lumberjacks are receiving votes in the AFCA FCS Coaches Poll.
While NAU scored six offensive touchdowns in last week's win and got a kick return touchdown by
Kolbe Katsis, the Lumberjack defense posted their best performance of the season. NAU allowed season-lows of 285 yards of offense and 10 points.
NAU closed the game with 28 unanswered points and shut out Northern Colorado in the second half.
Brandon Wong,
Michael Hurst and
Jahaad Fort all totaled at least eight tackles and
Quentin Moten recorded an interception for the third consecutive game. Moten is one off the FCS lead with four total interceptions this season.
"It was certainly the most complete game of the year for us so far," Wright said. "It's something we've worked extremely hard for. It especially came in a moment where we had to come back from a tough ball game (the week before). It was good to see our team respond as they did and we need to continue to do that because we need to be playing our best football at the tail end of the season."
Katsis was named the Big Sky Special Teams Player of the Week following his 100-yard kick return touchdown, the Lumberjacks' first since 2017. It was the fourth 100-yard kick return in program history. Katsis leads all of Division I, including the FBS, with a 34.2 yard per return average in addition to ranking ninth in the FCS with 129.4 all-purpose yards per game.
On the ground, NAU ran for five touchdowns for the first time since the 2024 season opener versus Lincoln.
Seth Cromwell accounted for two of them as the Lumberjacks are 11th in the FCS this season with 26 rushing touchdowns. The 26 rushing touchdowns are the program's most in a single-season since the 1996 campaign when the Lumberjacks totaled 34 touchdowns on the ground. Meanwhile, Cromwell (9) and
Quran Gossett (8) aiming to become the first pair of Lumberjacks to score double-digit rushing totals in the same season in program history.
Saturday could also be a milestone game for
Ty Pennington, who needs 202 yards passing to join an exclusive group of Lumberjack quarterbacks with 5,000 career passing yards. Pennington would be the ninth quarterback in program history to reach the 5,000 yard mark and the first to do so since Case Cookus, who finished his NAU career from 2015-19 with a school record 12,082 yards.
He enters the game with 4,798 yards passing as a Lumberjack, just two yards shy of Cary Grossart to crack NAU's all-time top 10 chart.
NAU hosts Cal Poly (3-7, 1-5 Big Sky) for the first time since 2022 and only the third time since 2018. The Lumberjacks are 14-2 all-time versus the Mustangs and have won six of eight all-time meetings in Flagstaff.
Since upsetting No. 21/21 Sacramento State in its conference opener on Sept. 27, Cal Poly has dropped five straight games heading into Saturday. Four of its five conference losses have come to ranked teams, including the top three teams in the league (Montana, Montana State, UC Davis).
The Mustangs are 26th in the country in passing offense at 242.6 yards per game. Although Cal Poly is only averaging 129.8 yards rushing per game, the Mustangs have averaged 240 yards on the ground over their last two games.
Ty Dieffenbach, a redshirt freshman transfer from Pittsburgh, has started six games at quarterback and appeared in nine total. He leads the team with 1,186 yards passing and eight touchdowns and ranks fourth in the FCS with 14.5 yards per completion. Dieffenbach also leads the team in rushing with 317 yards and four touchdowns. Last week at Idaho State, Dieffenbach ran for 142 yards and a score.
Mikey D'amato anchors the Mustangs defense, as he leads the Big Sky and ranks third in the FCS with 12.0 tackles per game. D'amato paces the team with 120 tackles, 7.0 tackles-for-loss and 5.5 sacks.
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