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ASHLAND – One day short of 46 years since the last matchup, the College of Idaho and Southern Oregon University football teams will finally be ready to resume their rivalry Saturday.

The Coyotes (2-0 overall, 1-0 Frontier) had good reason to keep the ninth-ranked Raiders (3-0, 2-0) waiting, considering their program had been nonexistent since 1977. But it's back now, the Coyotes are off to an improbable start, and the Raiders will get their first look at them with a 1 p.m. kickoff at Ashland High's Phillips Field.

C of I announced in May 2012 that the program would be revived, and as the only small-college team in Idaho the Coyotes were granted membership into the Frontier Conference for football only. Just like SOU and Eastern Oregon, their other sports compete in the Cascade Collegiate Conference.

Most of the bitterness stemming from SOU's 21-14 loss the last time these teams hooked up should be gone. The Raiders lead the all-time series, dating back to 1948, 3-2.

Are we having fun yet?: The brand of fun these Raiders are providing is a little different than the one that fans have become accustomed to the last couple years. Their 35-31 win last week at Eastern Oregon came on the heels of a 38-35 win over Carroll the week before, giving SOU consecutive wins decided by a touchdown or less for the first time since 2007. The average margin of Raider victory in 2012 and '13 was 31.3 points, but this is the first time in 13 years that they've started a season with three straight wins.

A defense coming through in the clutch is making the tight triumphs possible. As opposed to last season – when the SOU led in the final two minutes of all but one of its losses – the Raiders are leaning on their 'D' late in games, as in last week's when Eastern Oregon's only second-half touchdown was scored on a pick-6. In Week 2, the Raiders shut out Carroll for the last 1 ½ quarters. And in Week 1, Menlo was blanked over the first three stanzas. One key to that success: SOU opponents are converting on just 39% of third-down conversion opportunities (17-for-44) compared to SOU's 52% success rate.

Offensively speaking: It's easy to say the Raider offense hasn't quite hit its stride after last week's relatively shaky performance, but the Raiders are still third in the NAIA at 569.7 yards per game. That, and the game-winning drive against the Mountaineers was somewhat masterful.

After matching a career-high with his third interception on the previous possession, Austin Dodge (Vancouver, Wash./Skyview) led the Raiders on a 16-play, 85-yard march that spanned 6:49, the longest drive of the season, allowing Melvin Mason (Vacaville, Calif./Vacaville) to plow into the end zone with 2:11 left.

Dodge got two TD passes closer to matching the NAIA record, which he is now 10 short of at 110. He's completing 66% of his passes for 308 yards per game. Dylan Young (Salem, Ore./North Salem) has five receiving TDs, which is second in the NAIA, and is up to 16 in his two-year SOU career. Melvin Mason (Vacaville, Calif./Vacaville) is posting 102.7 rushing yards per contest, and he and Keegan Lawrence (Sherwood, Ore./Sherwood) are leading a ground attack that averages 5.7 yards per carry compared to opponents' 3.7.

Rescue dogs: The Coyotes have played and won in unconventional fashion to this point. They blocked two late field-goal attempts to seal their first win at Pacific, 35-34, and last week picked off Montana Western quarterback Tyler Hulse four times (Cory Brady had three interceptions) in a 31-28 win. Junior QB Teejay Gordon is just as likely to run (104 yards/game) as he is to throw (202 yards/game), and the Yote 'D' has allowed 389 yards per game but forced six turnovers.

Mike Moroski, a longtime offensive coordinator at Cal-Davis, leads a roster that features 26 transfers and a large crop of freshmen who began their college careers at C of I either last year or this year.

Feel the love: The Raiders needed just a few weeks to get back in the good graces of NAIA Top 25 voters. When the first poll of the regular season was released Monday, they'd gone from No. 22 to No. 9, marking the biggest jump of any team from the preseason. They hadn't been in the top 10 since the 2013 spring poll, in which they were No. 5, and they have convincing play against an unforgiving early schedule to thank for getting them back.

SOU is one of three teams in the poll with a record of 3-0. Another is No.5 Rocky Mountain (Mont.), which led all Frontier teams. Carroll, one of 15 teams in the Top 25 with one loss, dropped five spots to No. 7. The Frontier was the only conference with three teams in the top 10.

Around the Frontier: Rocky Mountain (3-0, 2-0) is hosting Carroll (1-1, 1-1) on Saturday in the NAIA Game of the Week… Eastern Oregon (1-1, 0-1) looks for its first Frontier win at Montana Tech (1-2, 1-2)… MSU-Northern (1-2, 0-2) plays at Montana Western (1-3, 1-2) in a battle of two teams trying to avoid their third losses.