The University of Montana picked up the No. 3 seed in the FCS playoffs and will host Wofford out of the Southern Conference next Saturday, while Eastern Washington grabbed an at-large bid and will play No. 2 seed McNeese State in Lake Charles, La. Both games will be played next Saturday.

"It's great to get a chance to see if we can be the best," UM coach Bobby Hauck said. "You have to get a little lucky and we still have a ways to go. I'm loathe to talk about it."

Wofford (8-3) finished second in the SoCon and boasts a 42-31 win over two-time defending champion Appalachian State. A win over the Terriers would pit UM against the winner of the Eastern Kentucky (9-2)-Richmond (9-2) game, which would be played in Missoula.

EWU, which finished 8-3 overall and 6-2 in the league, came up with a clutch 38-16 win over Weber State and finished the season on a four-game winning streak to advance. The Eagles had dropped three of four games and their only loss in the final six was to FBS Brigham Young. Another loss came on a last-second field goal against UM.

Sophomore quarterback Matt Nichols did it all against the Wildcats passing for 256 yards and four touchdowns against no interceptions, and running for 103 yards on 15 carries.

The outcome was in question midway through the third quarter when WSU took a 16-14 lead, but the Eagles got a big kickoff return and scored two plays later to retake the lead for good.

If EWU beats McNeese State it will face James Madison University (8-3) at Appalachian State (9-2) winner.

The Grizzlies (11-0, 8-0) needed a win to ensure a top-four seed. Lex Hilliard had one of his best games to help UM pull away from MSU (6-5, 4-4) late for a 41-20 win. He ran for 181 yards and three TDs on 32 carries.

"It was good to finally get a win here," Hilliard said of playing in Bozeman for the third time. "I haven't done it since I've been here. All year the Cats were in the back of our minds."

"He came back from a devastating injury," Hauck said of Hilliard's torn Achilles' tendon that shelved him for the 2006 season. "It took time for him to hit stride, but he's made of iron. Like I've said, he's a great guy and the best thing about the injury was we got to be around him for another year."

Dan Carpenter of Helena broke two FCS records and tied another with booming field goals of 51 and 42 yards and connected on all five of his PATs. He missed a shorter field goal when a bad snap didn't allow the ball to be properly placed. His 11 points gives him the FCS scoring record with 403 points making him the first person to score over 400. He also broke the kick scoring record with 397 points. His two field goals gives him 72 for his career tying Marty Zendajas for that mark.

"Anytime you go by the Zendejas brothers (Tony and Marty) you're doing good," UM coach Bobby Hauck said. "It's great to have a good kicker."

Another Helenan, Mike Ferriter, also turned in a fine game for UM. The sure-handed receiver came up with five key receptions for 73 yards. He leads the team in receiving yardage (697) and is second in receptions (45).

MSU's Bobby Daly, also of Helena, capped off his junior year with 14 tackles and a sack. He led MSU in tackles in all but one game this year and recorded double-digit tackles in every game. He finished the year with 136 tackles, 15.5 tackles for loss, five sacks, four pass breakups and two forced fumbles.

In other league games Portland State dropped Northern Colorado 31-21 as marquee PSU head coach Jerry Glanville finished with a rough 3-8 mark in his first season in the Big Sky. Sacramento State beat Idaho State 41-30 as Bryan Hilliard ran for 243 yards and three touchdowns. Northern Arizona, which finished third in the league, played its season finale the prior week.

Other FCS playoff games this week include No. 1 Northern Iowa (11-0) hosting New Hampshire (7-4) with the winner taking on the winner of the Delaware State (10-1) at Delaware (8-3) game. No. 4 Southern Illinois (10-1) will entertain Eastern Illinois (8-3) with the winner of that game playing the winner between Fordham (8-3) at UMass (9-2).