FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (November 3, 2026) – No. 6/6 Northern Arizona travels to San Luis Obispo, Calif. for its final regular season road game on Saturday, taking on Cal Poly at Mustang Memorial Field at 3 p.m. MST.
James Malamas and Kevin Stephens will be on the call on the Northern Arizona Healthcare NAU Lumberjack Radio Network pregame show starting with the pregame show at 2 p.m. MST. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+.
For the first time since 1996, the Lumberjacks are ranked No. 6 in this week's Stats Perform FCS Top 25 and AFCA FCS Coaches Poll.
NAU moved to 7-2 overall and 5-1 in conference play with a 34-27 victory over Southern Utah last weekend to retain the Grand Canyon Trophy. The Lumberjacks, with their best record through nine games since 2013, are still tied with Montana State for first in the Big Sky standings with three weeks remaining in the regular season. With a win at Cal Poly this weekend, NAU would finish the regular season with a 4-2 record on the road. The four road victories would match the program's most in a season since 2013.
Despite posting their fourth consecutive win last week, slow starts have been a thorn in the side for NAU in each of its last two games. NAU fell behind 14-0 to Portland State on Oct. 17 and again 10-0 to Southern Utah.
"It's something we're taking a deep dive into and have been working on for a long time," said head coach
Brian Wright. "I just think that we are missing some of the focus that we need at the beginning and at the very end of the game. Once our backs are up against the wall in the middle portions of these games, we respond certainly how we want to respond. But it comes down to 1/11 football, doing your job, making good calls as a staff, putting our guys in good position to have success and then guys going out and being ready to execute right at the beginning and through the end."
The Lumberjacks received a boost offensively last week with
Quran Gossett returning from an injury that he suffered against No. 2/3 Montana on Oct. 10. Gossett responded with a career-high 203 all-purpose yards, setting career-bests of 131 rushing yards and 72 receiving yards. Gossett is averaging 5.0 yards per rush and leads the team with 546 rushing yards on the season. Last week was his third 100-yard rushing game of the season and fourth of his career.
Like Gossett,
Ty Pennington also had the best rushing game of his career last week, totaling 91 yards on the ground. Pennington iced the victory with 79 of his 91 yards on the final drive of the game. Pennington also completed a season-best 85.2% of his passes, going 23-of-27 for 292 yards and two touchdowns through the air. On the season, Pennington is up to 2,190 passing yards and 14 touchdowns, with both totals putting him in the top 30 of the FCS.
Even without
Kenveon Stone, who has missed the last three games with an injury, the Lumberjacks' running game has been on another level of late. NAU has run for 200 yards in three of its last four games and has four 200-yard games overall this season. The 'Jacks had all of two such games last year.
For the season, NAU is averaging 159.9 yards per game and 4.9 yards per carry on the ground. While NAU's per game and per carry averages are higher than last year, the averages would look even better when taking out the Lumberjacks' -7 yards net rushing versus Arizona earlier this season. Without the Arizona game, NAU is averaging 180.8 yards rushing and 5.3 yards per rush.
For the second straight week, NAU will face one of the top running backs in the FCS on the other side. Jaden Green is the name to watch for the Mustangs as he leads the FCS in all-purpose yards per game at 163.5, although he has missed the last two games. Green's majority of production comes on the ground where he ranks 10th nationally with 111.8 yards rushing per game.
Cal Poly has dropped three consecutive games, including a 61-7 loss to No. 3/3 Montana State last week, since it upset No. 16/17 Idaho State, 25-24, on Oct. 10. The Mustangs are 4-6 overall and 3-4 in Big Sky play. With two games remaining in its regular season, Cal Poly has already matched its win total (4) and eclipsed its league win total (2) from 2025.
"They've been hit with some injuries certainly here of late, like many of us have," Wright said. "I think that's had a major impact on them, but they are really athletic across the board. Last week at Montana State, they're down a bunch of players and in that environment, you can certainly get behind quickly and that kind of snowballed on them. But to me, that is a little bit of the anomaly. They're an improved football team from a year ago."
Anthony Grigsby Jr. quarterbacks Cal Poly and ranks 17th in the FCS with 17 passing touchdowns and 21st with 2,153 passing yards. As a team, Cal Poly averages 25.8 points per game. RL Miller ranks second in the Big Sky with 5.1 solo tackles per game. Miller is Cal Poly's second-leading tackler at 76 total tackles, behind only Kenny Olson's 87, and he leads the team with three interceptions.
Cal Poly is one of the most disciplined teams in the FCS, ranking second in fewest penalties per game (3.7) and penalty yards per game (33.2).
NAU has won four consecutive head-to-head meetings against Cal Poly and lead the all-time series, 15-2. The Lumberjacks have never lost to the Mustangs on the road, winning all eight previous matchups in San Luis Obispo.
Last season, the Lumberjacks defeated the Mustangs, 35-27, at home. Pennington threw for 356 yards, marking the second-highest single-game total of his career, and four touchdowns, while the defense held the Mustangs' running attack in check. Cal Poly only netted 86 yards on 32 carries for an average of 2.7 yards per attempt.
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