Portland and PSU have a chance to meet Saturday

If football and Portland State area ever really going to go together, Saturday is one of the days that can make it happen.

Not only do the Vikings need to win, but they need to win before a crowd: even better, an inspired crowd.

Portland State plays host to No. 3 Montana State in its third game at Jeld-Wen Field with the Big Sky Conference lead at stake. Both teams have won their first two conference games, but head to Saturday with different agendas.

Montana State is working to successfully defend its conference title, and is on the way there having beaten defending national champion Eastern Washington two weeks ago. The Bobcats are 4-1 overall and 2-0 in Big Sky games with wins over the Eagles, 36-21, and then Sacramento State, 31-21, before 18,847 fans at Bobcat Stadium. Eastern Washington was picked to finish first, and Sacramento State, which won at Oregon State, was picked to finish fourth in the preseason conference media poll.

The Bobcats lost their opener at Utah of the Pac-10, 27-10.

After Saturday, Montana State’s big game is its regular season finale against in-state rival Montana, Nov. 19, on its home field.

PSU lost its game against Texas Christian of the FBS, 55-13, although the game was tied 3-3 until late in the first half. The Vikings have beaten Northern Arizona, picked for sixth in the preseason poll, and Idaho State, picked for ninth among the nine teams, by a combined total of nine points.

Saturday is a tremendous test for the team and second-year head coach Nigel Burton. It’s also a test for Portland and connection with its inner city university athletic department.

The Vikings, you’ll recall, went to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament recently – twice, but play in one of the nation’s smallest arenas, the Stott Center, which can hold around 1,500 people if they get cozy with one another. Only Sacramento State has an arena close in size to the Stott Center.

Football, though, is a different story. If Portland wants to, it can put the Vikings among the national leaders in attendance for FCS teams. The Vikings can help that happen simply by winning.

Saturday is the start of a very big run of games for the Viks. Following MSU, they play at Montana, which gets more than 25,000 fans for every home game, play host to a non-conference game with Willamette, then play at Eastern Washington. That’s the top three teams in the conference in a little more than three weeks.

Jeld-Wen Field has seen a remarkable level of energy this spring and summer thanks to the Portland Timbers and their Army of supporters. How the Vikings can get an army is a mystery the school’s athletic department has been unable to solve.

A big upset would be the first step.

So, Portland, if you’ve got an idea to maybe attend one PSU game this fall, make it Saturday. The Ducks play Thursday, so a trip to Eugene isn’t needed, and Oregon State is winless. PSU has a shot at something big, and tickets are plentiful and inexpensive - $15 for general admission ($8 for kids). That’s about 1/10th of the cost to get into a Ducks game, but it would have about 10 times the effect on the Vikings program.