In the weekly Big Sky football coaches conference call Wednesday, University of Montana coach Bobby Hauck came out of his shell.

It only lasted about 10 seconds, but he did it.

In response to the question of whether he would be watching and even rooting for one side during the Weber State at Northern Arizona game Saturday, Hauck produced one of his patented, coach-like, responses: "We don't focus on any game other than the one we're playing."

And, then it happened a few seconds later.

"I'd like to go back to that last question. I guess I'd be pulling for Northern Arizona," he said. "If they win, that helps us."

Both Weber State, ranked No. 17, and No. 15 Northern Arizona are unbeaten in Big Sky games, and No. 5 Montana plays host to NAU next week. If NAU beats Weber State, and Montana beats NAU next week, they would all have one loss in conference

play -- Montana having lost to Weber State three weeks ago.

If they all win out -- a big if -- they would tie for the Big Sky title.

That's when the Scholastic Aptitude Test aspect of the season would heat up as to which team would get the automatic berth into the 16-team Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.

And, that's just imagining three teams tying for the conference title.

Imagine four. That's feasible in the Southern Conference, which has four ranked teams playing each other today.

Three-time defending FCS champion Appalachian State, ranked second, plays host to No. 19 Furman, and No. 6 Wofford plays at No. 7 Elon.

Only Furman has a loss in conference play, and it came at Elon, which is 3-1 against ranked teams.

Appalachian State's two losses are to No. 1 James Madison and Louisiana State, ranked No. 13 in the BCS poll.

Wofford lost only to South Carolina.

James Madison gets a challenge from No. 9 Villanova in the Colonial Conference, which also includes No. 8 Richmond, No. 10 New Hampshire and No. 16 Massachusetts and No. 23 Williams and Mary.

So, to recap, that's No. 1 James Madison at No. 9 Villanova, No. 2 Appalachian State playing host to No. 19 Furman, No. 6 Furman at No. 7 Elon and No. 17 Weber State at No. 15 Northern Arizona. Also, No. 22 Hampton plays at No. 24 South Carolina State in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.

That's some action across the nation for fans of FCS teams. The national playoffs aren't that far away.

It certainly was nice to hear Hauck let loose just a bit, especially as he seems to have a solid grip on the Grizzlies' opponent today -- Northern Colorado.

The Bears lost at Purdue to start the season and have lost four other games by a total of 17 points, so they're due for a big win ... over a team ranked, say, No. 5, which is where Montana is ranked.

"They're a good team and anybody who doesn't understand that is going to have a hard time winning against them," Hauck said.

Sports Editor Cliff Pfenning: 447-4070 or cliff.pfenning@helenair.com