FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (September 22, 2026) – No. 18/17 Northern Arizona faces its stiffest challenge of the season yet on Saturday, visiting No. 1/1 Montana State in front of a national television audience on ESPN2. Kickoff from Bobcat Stadium is 7:30 p.m. MST.
NAU will make an appearance on ESPN2 for a second consecutive season, marking the program's fourth all-time on ESPN's linear television network. The game will be streamed live online
here (subscription required) in addition to linear television.
James Malamas and Kevin Stephens will be on the call on the Northern Arizona Healthcare NAU Lumberjack Radio Network starting with the pregame show at 6:30 p.m. MST.
Fans are also encouraged to join head coach
Brian Wright and select student-athletes at
Timber Talk, NAU's monthly coaches show, live at The Porch Flagstaff on Wednesday, Sept. 23 to hear more from the team prior to the team's departure to Bozeman, Mont. Timber Talk begins at 6 p.m. MST and is free for all fans to attend.
The Lumberjacks, in the second of three consecutive road games, are off to a 3-1 start to the season and are looking for their third straight victory with conference play resuming. NAU is 1-0 in conference after defeating Eastern Washington, 34-27, on Aug. 29 to open the season. Meanwhile, Montana State (4-0, 1-0 Big Sky) has won 18 consecutive games dating back to last season and 11 straight at home. The Bobcats narrowly avoided an upset last week to Central Connecticut State, rallying for a 35-30 win.
"We're going to have to play our best football game for sure. We've yet to put that all together," Wright said. "It's going to requires us to play really good football in all three phases. Good performance from our players, great coaching and great preparation all together. There's a lot to clean up, a lot to get better at because we're playing the best team in the country. Saturday will require our best effort."
This Saturday will be NAU's first game against the top-ranked team in the country since it lost to Sam Houston, 42-16, in its 2021 season opener. The Lumberjacks are 1-3 against No. 1 ranked teams since 2000 with the lone win in that span being a monumental one. The Lumberjacks dominated McNeese State, 35-3, in the first round of the 2003 I-AA Playoffs in one of the biggest first round playoff upsets in I-AA/FCS history.
NAU continued its ascent up the national rankings following a 35-23 victory at Utah Tech last week. The Lumberjacks moved up two spots to No. 18 in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 and No. 17 in the AFCA Coaches Poll.
NAU's offense got on track last week, racking up 495 yards of total offense, eclipsing 400 yards for the first time this season. The Lumberjacks got a season-best performance from
Ty Pennington, who threw for two touchdowns and 311 yards. Pennington also added a touchdown on the ground while recording his fourth career game with 300 passing yards.
Backing Pennington in the air was
Kenveon Stone and
Quran Gossett, who combined for 159 of NAU's 184 yards rushing. It marked the third game this season that NAU has rushed for at least 180 yards.
For Stone, last Saturday was a career-high game as he ran for 90 yards and two touchdowns. Over the last two weeks, Stone has run for 138 rushing yards and four touchdowns. Stone is tied for 14th in the FCS with four rushing touchdowns on the season, while Gossett is 26th with 297 rushing yards.
Deliyon Freeman, last week's Big Sky Co-Defensive Player of the Week, notched his second interception in as many games, lifting the Lumberjacks' season total to 12 takeaways, putting them in sole possession of first in the FCS. NAU had 13 takeaways all of last season.
Jaiden Letua, who led the team with six tackles last week at Utah Tech, also forced a fumble that NAU nearly recovered.
As a team, the Lumberjacks lead the Big Sky with six interceptions and six fumbles recovered. Freeman and
Jahaad Fort each have two interceptions apiece.
The Bobcats, the defending FCS national champions, own the third-longest active winning streak across all NCAA levels behind Ferris State (Division II) and Indiana (FBS) dating back to their last loss on Sept. 6, 2025. Their 11-game home winning streak in Bobcat Stadium is the third-longest active streak in the FCS.
The Bobcats are once again the top defensive team in the Big Sky. Montana State ranks 18th in the FCS in total defense (301.0) and are particularly stingy against the run, also ranking 18th with only 112.5 yards allowed per game. They are third in the Big Sky with 188.5 yards allowed in the passing game. On the flip side, Montana State is 26th nationally in total offense (422.0) and eighth in scoring (40.0). With Justin Lamson quarterbacking the team, the Bobcats are the nation's leader in completion percentage (.741) and are eighth in in passing efficiency (173.27).
Lamson, last season's FCS Championship MVP, is third individually in the FCS completing 74.5% of his passes. On the season, he has thrown for 923 yards, seven touchdowns and only one interception. He is aided offensively by his top target, Dane Steel, and the team's top rusher, Adam Jones. Steel and Jones both rank in the top 20 in receiving yards and rushing yards respectively in the FCS.
Cole Taylor spearheads Montana State's defense with a team-high 33 tackles. He also has two quarterback hurries and two pass breakups.
NAU is seeking to snap a four-game losing streak to Montana State dating back to 2017, and is hoping to earn its first win in Bozeman since 2016. Despite the four-game losing streak, including last season's 34-10 loss to the Bobcats in Flagstaff, the Lumberjacks still hold the all-time series advantage, 28-26.
"Our team is totally different than it was a year ago," Wright said. "We pointed out how a couple of the big plays Montana State had (last year) affected us mentally. We had a history lesson on being resilient like how our team has been all year long."
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