GAME #8: Bobcats Host Nationally-Ranked Weber State on Saturday Afternoon

BOZEMAN, Mont. (Oct. 21, 2026) – Much has transpired since Montana State's most recent home game four weeks ago.

The Bobcats lost a road game, its first defeat of the season. The team earned a decisive road win last Saturday, and sandwiched between the two was an open week. On Saturday, the 28-day hiatus from Bobcat Stadium ends when No. 3 Montana State (6-1 overall, 3-1 Big Sky) hosts 22^nd-ranked Weber State. Kickoff is 1 pm.

"We're excited to be back home, for sure, excited to be playing at one o'clock," Vigen said. "I think the crowd will be great once again, and will be very impactful."

After back-to-back seasons with a 4-8 record, WSU first-year head coach Eric Kjar has led the team to a 5-3 record, including a 4-1 Big Sky mark. The Wildcats and MSU are two of the league's three one-loss teams, along with Northern Arizona.

"Weber State is a very changed team, a changed program," Vigen said. "Coach Kjar has been able to get them back on track in a short time. They were certainly at the top of the league when I got here not too long ago, they'd fallen off, but he's gotten them back on track."

The Wildcats' only Big Sky defeat was a 44-41 home loss to Portland State. Southern Utah also won a non-league game against Weber State, 47-42, but the team beat Idaho 38-27 on Oct. 10 and 21^st-ranked Idaho State 27-20 last week.

"They've played six conference opponents," Vigen said. "Five of those have been one score, and the other one might as well have been. They've found ways to win those types of games more than they haven't."

Weber State's resurgent offense fuels the team, averaging 26.3 points per game (16^th in the FCS), 434.9 total yards (19^th) and 189.9 rushing yards (22^nd). Freshman quarterback Nate Dahle has thrown for 1,591 yards this season, 30^th nationally, and his 16 touchdown passes is 10^th. Receiver Noah Kjar, head coach Eric Kjar's son, has accounted for 10 of those touchdowns through the air, the most in the FCS.

"I'm impressed by what they're doing, playing with a young quarterback now that continues to get better and better," he said. "They have a good running game, they're balanced and they want to be balanced."

The Wildcats employ an aggressive defense. Weber State leads the Big Sky with 2.25 sacks per game and has 10 takeaways.

"Defensively, they're a fairly aggressive outfit," Vigen said. "They play a lot of man coverage, they give you a lot of looks front-wise, pressure-wise, quite a bit different from what we've seen over the last few opponents."

Montana State received an infusion of talent during the 56-20 win at Eastern Washington last week with the return of three starting team captains. Running back Adam Jones scored three touchdowns, quarterback Justin Lamson threw for one and ran for another, and safety Caden Dowler logged a tackle-for-loss.

That win answered the team's only loss of the season the previous time out, a 35-34 defeat at Idaho on Oct. 2 that preceded the team's open week.

Saturday's game against Weber State, in addition to marking the team's return to Bobcat Stadium for the first time in a month, marks the team's first afternoon kickoff in five weeks. The game airs across Montana on The Spot-MTN stations. A guide is available here.

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Players Mentioned

Caden Dowler

Adam Jones

Justin Lamson

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