MISSOULA — The quest to return to Frisco officially begins Saturday night at Washington-Grizzly Stadium when the third-ranked Montana Grizzlies welcome the Missouri State Bears to town to officially kick off their season.

The first-week nerves are nearly over when the lights come up on Saturday night. All questions surrounding UM’s team will be answered at kickoff, likely in front of a raucous crowd and a blackout theme. The game starts at 7 p.m. and the Montana Television Network will be airing the game statewide.

“It’s the first game. We’re obviously excited to be in game week,” Montana head coach Bobby Hauck said during his weekly press conference. “As a head coach and our staff, we’re always concerned that we’re not going to be ready to perform at a high level. That’s the way it is with first games, we try to be prepared and we prepare right up until kickoff to make that happen.”

With a strong offense and plenty of new faces on defense, this Griz team shares many similarities with last year, but also has some areas that have gotten a new look.

After a tough training camp, they are now ready to show it in a real match.

“I think we do those things well here, we always have a tough camp,” senior cornerback Trevin Gradney said. “I’ve never been in a camp that wasn’t tough. So yeah, it just builds us up, builds a strong team.”

“I’m excited. I think everybody’s excited,” added senior right tackle Brandon Casey. “We haven’t played anybody but ourselves since January, and we’re ready to go.”

Their first opponent is Missouri State, a new opponent as these programs meet for the first time.

The Bears went 4-7 last season under first-year head coach Ryan Beard in the rugged Missouri Valley Football Conference.

They opened the season with 11 players receiving preseason all-conference honors to varying degrees, five of whom were all-league picks a year ago. As a unit, they return 20 starters from last year’s team.

It also marks Missouri State’s final season at the FCS level, as the Bears will move up to the FBS next year, leaving them out of the playoffs and canceling a future 2026 meeting between UM and Missouri State.

“They have a lot of returning starters,” Hauck said. “And I always think veteran football teams are good football teams, so they’re very veteran, so I know this is going to be a big challenge this weekend. I really think we’re going to see them as a contender in the Missouri Valley in late October.”

It’s a good challenge for both teams. For Montana, the quest to repeat the magic of last season begins now as they hope to return to the FCS championship game in Frisco, Texas.

“We’ve got our hands full on Saturday,” Hauck said. “We don’t know what they changed or adjusted. We know what we saw and we’re just excited to play this weekend.”