MOSCOW, Idaho - Idaho and Montana state first met on the gridiron on Oct. 2, 1905. Saturday's game is the 46th meeting of the two, but never has the game meant so much. Montana State comes to Moscow, with the No. 2 ranking, five consecutive wins and the only unblemished Big Sky record at 4-0. Ninth-ranked Idaho looks push itself back into Big Sky Championship contention after its first FCS loss of the season two weeks ago against Montana. This Top-10 battle will surely have Big Sky title, national ranking and playoff seeding considerations. 

ABOUT IDAHO: Idaho battled back from a 20-0 Montana lead, but came up just short, losing 23-21 to the Griz, but a well-timed bye week has the Vandals ready to battle Montana State and get back to the top of the Big Sky standings.  Gevani McCoy is one of the most efficient passers in the FCS and is among the leaders in the Big Sky for passing yards and touchdowns. Hayden Hatten is among the leaders in the FCS in receiving yards. Anthony Woods is third in the nation in rushing TDs and leads the Big Sky in a bevy of categories. The Vandal defense is a solid unit, among the leaders in FCS in passing yards allowed and total defense. Tre Thomas leads Idaho with 40 total tackles. Keyshawn James-Newby has a team-high five sacks. 

ABOUT MONTANA STATE: The Bobcats are coming off of a 42-30 road win over Sacramento State last week and are averaging an unbelievable 45 points a game on offense, behind a veteran and outstanding offensive line. Sean Chambers and Tommy Mellott are a two-headed monster at the quarterback position, giving the Bobcats plenty of options. MSU is averaging 7.7 yards per carry rushing. Six players have at least 180 rushing yards and multiple rushing TDs. McCade O'Reilly had a team-high 43 tackles and Brody Grebe has a team-high 6.5 sacks. MSU's lone loss was 20-16 road setback at No. 1 South Dakota State.  
1. THE BIGGEST GAME IN A 118 YEAR RIVALRY: While both Idaho and Montana State have achieved success, deep playoff runs and Conference championships, it seems like it has never happened at the same time. This is the first time in the entire 45-game history that both teams will be ranked when they face off. 
    • Since the start of 1-AA (now FCS) in 1978, one team has been ranked 12 times in the match up. 
    • Both teams have been as high as No. 1 when the teams met. The Bobcats were ranked first in 1978 and Idaho was ranked first in 1993.
    • Idaho was the ranked team in eight of the contests while MSU was the ranked team in four. 
    • There have been three ranked upsets in the series. Idaho upset No. 13 MSU (36-20) in 1982, MSU upset No. 1 Idaho in 1993 and #24 Idaho 16-13 in 1995.

2. RECORD SETTING FORM: Hayden Hatten's two fourth-quarter touchdowns against Montana gave the redshirt junior the Idaho Career Receiving Touchdown Record with 28. He broke Jerry Hendren's mark of 27 which was set in 1969. Hatten now holds the single-game (four), single-season (16) and the career receiving touchdown records. He is also now sixth in the career total touchdown top 10 and third on the career receiving yards list. 

3. IMPACT TRANSFERS: Eleven transfers joined the Idaho roster since the conclusion of last season. Eight of the 11 transfers are listed on the Vandal two-deep and three players, edge rusher Tylen Coleman, linebacker Tre Thomas and edge rusher Keyshawn James-Newby are listed as starters for the Vandals. Jahkari Larmond has made his presence felt with disruptive play in the middle of the Vandal defense. Thomas brings three-years of starting experience from South Dakota and James-Newby racked up nine sacks and 14.5 tackles, leading the NAIA's Frontier Conference while at Montana Tech. Turon Ivy Jr. started game two and took the opening pass 75 yards for a touchdown.  

4. STURDY SCHEDULE: Massey Ratings has Idaho's current schedule listed as the eighth-toughest schedule in all of the FCS. The Vandals have played five road games so far this season, including two against FBS teams, going 1-1 in those games. The two home games so far were played against a pair of top 10 opponents in Montana and Sacramento State and played a ranked Eastern Washington team on the road. Idaho still has two road games on the schedule against Northern Colorado and Weber State and a season-ending game against Idaho State in the P1FCU Kibbie Dome. 

5. MORE BEEF IN THE TRENCHES: The biggest difference year-to-year on the offensive line and defensive line for the Vandals may be improved strength and weight. Of the nine returners on the Vandal two-deep for the offensive line, the weight gain is over 11 pounds on average per player. Last year, not a single player who started a game at defensive tackle weighed over 270. This season, not a single player on the defensive line two-deep weighs less than 275. 

6. STAFF CONSISTENCY: With an FCS program that had a winning season, it is not unreasonable to assume that many members of the successful coaching staff would get poached by bigger programs. In the case of the 2022 Idaho Vandals only one coach, safeties coach Tyler Yelk, left and he took an assistant job with the Philadelphia Eagles. Coach Jason Eck hired Bobby Jay, the Defensive Coordinator of the University of San Diego Toreros.