It's that time of year when college conference football titles start peaking over the horizon. The Big Sky is no different.

Three teams -- Eastern Washington, Montana and Montana State -- are all in the thick of the race, while one team, Northern Arizona, hasn't been mathematically eliminated, at least not yet.

This weekend's games may go a long way in deciding the eventual winner, but then again they may just muddy the water. Two key games figure to clear the picture.

Montana, 6-2 overall, 3-1 Big Sky, hosts NAU (4-4, 3-2), while No. 18 MSU (6-2, 4-0) travels to Sacramento State (2-6, 1-4). Even though No. 21 Eastern Washington (6-3, 5-1) plays a non-conference foe when it hosts No. 11 Cal Poly, that game has heavy playoff meanings for both teams.

With a win over the Lumberjacks, the No. 9 Grizzlies, who still dictate their own future despite last week's loss, would eliminate NAU and create a three-way sprint to the finish. A win by NAU would keep the Lumberjacks in the hunt for a tie at best.

Couple a UM loss with a win by MSU and both the Grizzlies and Axers would be out of the title chase and next week's EWU at MSU game would decide who wins the league's automatic berth into the NCAA I-AA playoffs. Should the Grizzlies win and Bobcats lose, then it will take at least another week to narrow down the possibilities.

EWU, which is statistically the best team in the league, has to win both of its remaining games to assure itself a spot in the playoffs. The Eagles have torched five league opponents, but lost to Montana at home and suffered a huge blow on opening day when they lost to Nicholls State.

The only day game Saturday is the Northern Arizona at Montana tilt, which begins at 12:05. The Lumberjacks are coming off a humiliating 60-14 loss to MSU in a game where they found themselves down 53-0 at halftime. Last year, facing a somewhat similar circumstance, NAU won its final two games of the regular season to grab an at-large bid for the playoffs, then downed No. 1-ranked McNeese State 35-3 to become the only Big Sky team to win a playoff game.

Whether they can get past that first step in front of 23,000 screaming UM fans is yet to be seen. NAU has never won in Washington-Grizzly Stadium and only two teams -- Eastern Washington (1997) and Montana State (2002) -- have won conference games there since 1993. The Grizzlies wrap up the season with three straight home games and will win the league's automatic berth by winning them all.

Although MSU finds itself alone in first place, the Bobcats won't find the confines so comfortable as they play two road games and face EWU in their final home game next week. They will need to not look past Sacramento State on Saturday night at 5:05 in order to set themselves up with a little wiggle room in the final two games. MSU could lose one game and still make the playoffs. Even if they lose tonight but win the final two games, the Bobcats will garner the league's automatic bid.

The Cal Poly-Eastern Washington game kicks off at 3:05 and both teams stand to gain big points with the selection committee with wins. The Mustangs are one of only nine teams with records of 7-1 or better, but will probably need to grab an at-large spot after losing to league foe Cal-Davis last week 36-33. They aren't as backed up as the Eagles, however, as wins over Northern Colorado at home and at Sacramento State would probably put them in the playoffs at 9-2.

By winning their final two games EWU would grab at least a share of the league title and at 8-3 likely a playoff appearance. The Eagles have put up some gaudy numbers in league games and are on top in several statistical categories. They lead in scoring offense (36.7), pass defense (189.3), rushing offense (192.8), total offense (449.9), total defense (321.7), punt returns (18.8), pass efficiency (156.9), pass defense efficiency (105.4) and first downs (208). Despite all that they have needed to be perfect since losing to UM on Oct. 16.

In other games involving Big Sky teams Idaho State is at improving Portland State and Weber State hosts North Dakota State.