MISSOULA, Mont. — Another week of college football brings a new opponent for the University of Montana Grizzlies. Outside of the expected Brawl of the Wild, next Saturday’s Top 10 matchup against UC Davis could shake up the Big Sky Conference.

In Montana’s first home game in four weeks, the Grizzlies’ defense will be tested since a week four matchup against Western Carolina’s No. 1 passing attack.

Davis’ passing attack led by quarterback Miles Hastings ranks second in the nation. Montana’s defense is still looking to ultimately prove itself after back-to-back games against Eastern Washington and Weber State in which the Griz surrendered over 100 points and 1,000 yards. Since then, the defense has made a mockery of opposing offenses by holding its last three opponents to a total of 27 points, 20 of which came against Northern Arizona. However, you can’t ignore the fact that these games all feature bottom-tier offenses and backup quarterbacks. This UC Davis game is the true measure of whether their defense really came through, or if these numbers are just indirect to the low-level competition they faced.

There’s no doubt that Hastings is a talented quarterback, but the Davis offense really runs through running back Lan Larrison, who leads the Aggies in rushing and receiving yards. Make no mistake, he’s on Montana’s radar.

In his weekly press conference, coach Bobby Hauck called Larrison “the most talented player in our conference,” and his 1,400 all-purpose yards certainly speak volumes for that statement. Montana also has no experience stopping Larrison as he sat out due to injury when the two teams met in California last season as Montana picked up the 31-23 win in a week where Aaron Fontes named him Big Sky Offensive Player of the Week .

On offense, Hauck has announced that both Keali’i Ah Yat and Logan Fife will split the quarterback job. Both QBs have looked solid over the past two weeks at Cal Poly and Northern Colorado. The star of the road trip, however, came through Hauck’s bread and butter, special teams.

In Greeley, Xavier Harris nearly returned one of his kick returns all the way home, and in San Luis, Junior Bergen returned his first punt of the season to become the Big Sky’s all-time punt return touchdown leader with six on his resume.

Now that we’re back home under the prime time lights on national television, against a top five team in the country, it could all come down to another special moment for Montana’s special teams to be the difference maker.

Kickoff is scheduled for 8:15 PM from Washington Grizzly Stadium.