Five Big Sky teams still have a mathematical shot at winning the league's automatic berth to the FCS playoffs. It would take a cataclysmic collapse by the University of Montana, however, for that to happen.

The Grizzlies, now 5-0 in the league and 8-0 overall, can drop that number of auto-bid teams to one with a win at home this weekend over Portland State (2-3, 2-6). UM is 139-19 in Washington-Grizzly Stadium.

Montana, more than any time in its past, is proving itself to be a team that simply knows how to win. The Grizzlies have done what they needed -- be that scoring on defense, driving for a field goal in the waning seconds or depleting the clock with a bruising running game -- to earn close wins this year.

In conference games only, UM is merely eighth in total offense, yet fourth in scoring. They are fourth in total defense, but first in scoring defense. Proving yet again how meaningless statistics can be.

The Vikings will have a hard time replicating their 68-point effort from last week in noisy Missoula. Despite all those points, PSU still lost to Weber State 73-68. The Grizzlies are coming off a 21-16 win over the best team record nwise they've played all year Northern Arizona.

If UM wins, the only team that can stay alive is Montana State, but the Bobcats need to rebound from a morally devastating loss to Northern Colorado last week. The Bobcats allowed UNC to end its 16-game losing streak and pick up its first league win since joining the conference at the start of the 2006 season.

MSU (5-3, 3-2) will have to stop Northern Arizona (5-4, 4-2) a week after the Lumberjacks suffered a loss to Montana that put a serious dent in its playoff and league title hopes. The Bobcats need to win out, but also need either PSU or Idaho State to beat the Grizzlies for a shot at the league title when they play UM in Bozeman on Nov. 17.

MSU is joined by Eastern Washington (5-3, 3-2) as the only Big Sky teams other than UM that could pick up an at-large berth in the playoffs, but that will be no small chore. Both schools need to win all three of their remaining games to get in as the at-large bid cut-off is usually an 8-3 overall record.

The Eagles host UNC (1-8, 1-4) and hope to quell any momentum the Bears picked up in snapping their 16-game losing streak. EWU has a game at NAU and a home finale against Weber State to contend with.

Idaho State (2-3, 3-5) is at Weber State and needs to win to have any hope. The Bengals will have to slow down a Wildcat unit that scored 73 points last week against PSU.

Sacramento State (1-7, 1-5) has its annual rivalry game against UC Davis, which leads the Causeway Classic 38-16 and has a seven-game winning streak in the series.

Local notes: Montana kicker Dan Carpenter (Helena High) now has 61 points on the season and 372 in his career. He is just 22 points off the FCS career scoring record of 394 points set by former UM kicker Dan Snyder. Montana State middle linebacker Bobby Daly (Capital High) picked up a season-high 16 tackles and had two tackles for loss to run his total to 100. He is first in the Big Sky and third in the nation in total tackles. The Buck Buchanan Award watch list member now has 11 TFL and 3.5 sacks. UM wide receiver Mike Ferriter (Helena High) is tied for first in receptions on the team and is just one yard behind the leader in receiving yardage. He is sixth in the Big Sky in receptions per game and 10th in receiving yards.