After playing three of its first four games at home, the Southern Oregon football team hits the road this week to take on longtime rival Western Oregon Saturday in Monmouth.

Kickoff between the Raiders (1-3) and the NCAA Division II Wolves (2-2) is set for 2 p.m.

Southern Oregon will look to bounce back after three straight setbacks, including two straight at home to Willamette and Linfield.

“We put a lot of pressure on ourselves last week that we had to get a win,” SOU head coach Steve Helminiak said. “Right now we are just focusing on doing the little things and the task at hand. We have to start taking things one play at a time.”

The Raiders made a change earlier in the week at quarterback with freshman Alex Miller (Mountain View, Calif./Aragon) taking over as the No. 1.

“Alex is excited,” Helminiak said. “He's shown some maturity and poise this week. But it will still be his first college game as a starting quarterback.”

Defensively, Helminiak praised the play of defensive linemen Sunni Ali (Elk Grove, Calif./Laguna Creek), Will Watson (Myrtle Creek, Ore./South Umpqua), Jarrod Moroni (Eugene, Ore./South Eugene) and Dan Harvey (Portland, Ore./David Douglas).

Ali and Watson both have 21 tackles this year, which ranks third on the team. Watson has 6.5 tackles-for-loss and Ali has three.

Harvey has 13 tackles and Moroni has eight.

Western Oregon comes into Saturday's game with its two setbacks coming to NCAA Division IAA squads in Eastern Washington and UC Davis. The Wolves also hold victories over Humboldt State and Dixie State.

“They are big, physical and fast,” Helminiak said. “They are big up front on both sides of the ball and they have a D-I guy as quarterback, who is in his second year the system.”

Senior quarterback Josh Riddell is in his second year at Western after transferring from Mississippi State. Riddell ranks 28th in NCAA Division II by averaging 265 yards per game.