MISSOULA – Saturday will be the regular season home finale for the No. 10 Montana Grizzlies at Washington-Grizzly Stadium as the Grizzlies have just two games left on their schedule. But on Saturday they welcome the Portland State Vikings to town, and it’s a big occasion for Montana with the playoffs right around the corner.

After a loss last weekend to UC Davis, it’s about regrouping for the Grizzlies, who are 7-3 and 4-2 in Big Sky Conference play.

“The way I approach it is there’s one positive: when you win, and when you don’t, it’s not,” UM head coach Bobby Hauck said. “We think it’s important to win and lose, and we didn’t win the game on Saturday when we had the chance, so it’s not very positive.”

Twice earlier this season, UM was tasked with bouncing back from defeat, which the team did, proving they have the courage and ability to make up for a defeat when necessary.

“Even when we face adversity, we know what to do with it,” senior wide receiver Aaron Fontes said. “We just work hard, put our heads down and just keep working at the end of the day.”

Portland State comes to Missoula with a 2-7 record, but the Vikings have been competitive in most of the games they have played, including a close win over UC Davis, a close loss to Idaho and a recent win over Sacramento State.

It’s all through quarterback Dante Chachere, a human highlight reel who hurts teams with his arm or legs and has been a statistical machine all year.

It will be a good challenge for the Griz leading up to Senior Day as Montana will honor 26 seniors before the game and then look for its eighth win of the season.

“Just knowing that I’m on a team that has high standards for their players and knowing that I’m on a team that ultimately I’m going to have a brotherhood, always come back and help out if I even need to. I wanted to, so just the Knowing that I could do that with this team means a lot to me,” said Fontes.

“We love our guys here, and they know it,” Hauck said. “And hopefully the feeling is mutual. What I like about it is that we can recognize them before the game. I think that’s deserved. And guys who are here for their senior year are special guys, especially in this era of college football.” .”