ASHLAND – A big rivalry football weekend lies ahead for Southern Oregon, as the No. 24 Eastern Oregon Mountaineers come to town for a Frontier Conference matchup Saturday at 1 p.m. at Raider Stadium.

Southern Oregon, 2-2 this season, looks to bounce back from a tough 48-45 double-overtime loss to No. 16 Montana Tech last week in Butte, Mont. For the SOU coaching staff, the opportunity to get right back on the field with another game the next week is huge for moving past a difficult loss.

Tickets will be $10 for the game against Eastern Oregon, with $5 tickets for seniors over 62 and children 12-and-under receiving free admission. Fans who can't make it to the stadium can follow the action with live stats and video by following the links on the SOU website, and anyone who lives in southern Oregon or northern California can also view the game broadcast on KDRV Newswatch 12+, available over the air on channel 12.2, channel 291 on Charter Cabler, Ashland TV channel 12.2 and on the Northland Cable System at channel 137.

“There's two ways a team can go when this happens: they can feel sorry for themselves or they can go back and look at the things that they could've done in order to win the football game,” SOU defensive coordinator Matt Toblin said. “I feel like our kids have done a great job of responding to the setback that we had. We've had a great week of practice; the kids have done a great job of digging into Eastern and getting ready to prepare for the next game.”

Eastern Oregon comes into Saturday's matchup ranked 24th in the latest NAIA poll after dropping the past couple weeks from a top-10 spot earlier this season. The Mountaineers have lost back-to-back games to Carroll and Montana Western, falling 16-3 to the Bulldogs last weekend in La Grande.

Southern Oregon has a long history of success against Eastern, with a 45-14-3 all-time record against the Mountaineers. The Raiders' 45 wins against EOU are the most against any single opponent and make up almost 15 percent of SOU's all-time victories. Southern Oregon has won the last three meetings between the teams, including a 46-34 upset win over a 17th-ranked EOU squad last season at Raider Stadium.

“We're excited about the opportunity, and it's a good thing that it's Eastern Oregon because they are our rival and it doesn't take a lot of motivation or a lot of pep talk to get the kids ready to play a rival, in-state team like this that we have a lot of history against,” Toblin said.

The Raiders' dominant offensive performance has continued through the first four games of the season, as they lead the NAIA in total offense (586.5 yards per game), Passing offense (357.8) and total sacks given up (only one). They also rank second in first downs (29.5 per game) and fifth in third-down conversion percentage (50.6) and scoring offense (43.5 points per game).

Five Raiders have posted individual numbers that rank among the top players in the nation. Austin Dodge (Vancouver, Wash./Skyview) leads the NAIA in passing yards (348 per game) and total offense (362.5). Mike Olson (Colfax, Calif./Colfax) ranks first in scoring (12.5 points per game) and Cole McKenzie (Red Bluff, Calif./Red Bluff) ranks second in receiving yards (140 per game) and third in receptions (8.8 per game). Patrick Donahue (Los Angeles, Calif./Franklin) ranks fifth in all-purpose yards (168.8 per game) and sixth in receptions (7.3 per game). On defense, Kalii Robinson (Los Angeles, Calif./Dorsey) ranks seventh in tackles (11.5 per game).

Toblin expects the Eastern Oregon defense to present a new challenge from what the SOU offense has seen thus far.

“They've got a lot of really good football players, and they try to put a lot of pressure on the quarterback,” Toblin said of the EOU defense. “It will be a great matchup between our offensive line and the pressure that they bring, and whoever wins that matchup is pretty much going to decide who wins the football game.”