12 p.m. Saturday – #9 Montana Tech at #1 SOU – Raider Stadium
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*First 1,000 fans through the gate receive free mini footballs courtesy of U.S. Bank.

ASHLAND – Back-to-back overtime games, unkind to the blood-pressures of Southern Oregon University faithful, preceded back-to-back thumpings by a combined margin of 86 points that allowed the top-ranked Raiders to finally catch their breaths the last two weeks.

This Saturday, however, is already enveloped in more drama: One of the most anticipated regular-season games in Raider Stadium history is set to unfold with a Frontier Conference title at stake between top-ranked SOU (7-1 overall, 7-1 Frontier Conference) and ninth-ranked Montana Tech (7-1, 7-1). The early kickoff is scheduled for noon.

For 16 SOU seniors, the game is the last they're guaranteed at home. But a win would buy them more time on their own turf and much more:

– Whichever team takes Saturday's game will be guaranteed a co-conference championship and can claim it outright Nov. 14, which is the last date of the regular season. (SOU plays at Eastern Oregon, and the Orediggers host 13^th-ranked Montana Western.)
– The winner will also take the Frontier's automatic bid to the 16-team NAIA Championship Series. SOU earned an at-large berth last year with a No. 8 ranking, and Montana Tech last saw the postseason in 2012.
– If the Raiders win out, they're a lock to end up with either the No. 1 or 2 ranking, meaning they'd have hosting rights through the first three rounds of the postseason. The championship game will again be played on a neutral field in Daytona Beach, Fla.
– Lose to the Orediggers, and the Raiders are a virtual lock to finish behind them in the rankings no matter what the teams do next week. And judging by the traditional wisdom of top-25 voters, the Orediggers may only move up marginally from their current No. 9 standing in that scenario depending on how the other teams ahead of them perform.

The Orediggers, who bring in the fourth-best rushing attack in the NAIA, are shooting for their sixth straight win – their only loss was at Eastern Oregon, 33-21 on Nov. 19 – and the Raiders are going for their eighth straight. The only other season in which SOU has ever won eight in a row was a perfect 1946 campaign under head coach Al Simpson.

Series History:
– This isn't the first time SOU and Tech have played with a title on the line. In 2012, their first year in the Frontier, the Raiders forced a tie for the conference title with a 46-28 defeat of the Orediggers on the final day of the regular season at Raider Stadium. SOU had a 34-0 lead by the third quarter.
– SOU is up 5-3 in the all-time series dating back to 2007. Tech's last win was a 48-45 double-overtime affair in Butte on Sept. 29, 2012, but the Raiders have since won by an average margin of 19.5 points.
– The Raiders are 2-1 at home in the series. Tech's win was the first-ever meeting, 32-20 on Aug. 25, 2007.
– SOU won last year's clash in Butte, 45-33. Montana Tech had an early 14-0 lead before the Raiders swiftly scored 31 unanswered points.

Keeping up with the Joneses: Karrington Jones was in the middle of another stellar performance by the Raider defense last week in a 56-10 win at Rocky Mountain. SOU held notable quarterback Chase White to 11-of-25 passing and Andre McCullouch, the NAIA's top receiver, to one catch, and Jones had one of two SOU interceptions – his fifth of the season and seventh in the last two years. Armando Gauger also scored another defensive touchdown for the Raiders with a five-yard fumble-recovery return, which was SOU's third defensive TD in the last two weeks.

SOU's defense is up to 20 takeaways this season compared to 12 through the first eight games of 2014. The Raiders are also putting more pressure on quarterbacks with 25 sacks – Joseph Lealofi (5) and Sam Woods (3.5) lead the team in that category – including 22 in their last five games compared to two through their first three.

Staying Grounded: SOU's 355 rushing yards last week (the fourth-most in program history) were lifted by four different players with 70 or more, again bringing to light a lethally balanced approach. The Raiders are 14^th in the NAIA with 239 rushing yards per game, yet their leaders are Melvin Mason at 67.1 yards and Tanner Trosin at 61.2 yards, and no one else is above 35. Of every other team among the top-15 in the category, no one else's leader averages less than 75 yards.

Nine players have contributed to SOU's total of 30 rushing TDs (led by Trosin's 8), and the Raiders have 15 passing TDs. In the previous four years of the Craig Howard era, SOU amassed 102 rushing TDs and 163 passing TDs.

Quick Hits:
– Melvin Mason scored a rushing touchdown last week for the sixth time in eight games this season, giving him 35 rushing TDs and 41 total TDs for his career. He ranks third on both SOU career lists, directly behind Griff Yates (57 rushing, 60 total).
– Last week Jeremy Scottow became the sixth different player to lead the injury-riddle Raider receiving corps in reception yardage with five catches for 43 yards.
– Tanner Trosin has thrown just two interceptions in his last 129 attempts. His passing efficiency rating of 136.3 ranks 22^nd in the NAIA. Kamerun Smith, who continues to see regular action in a backup role, is 18^th (139.9).
– SOU's specialists continue to turn in stellar work: Thomas Giddens ranks third in the NAIA at 43.8 yards per punt, and JJ Latu ranks eighth at 13.7 yards per punt return.
– SOU's leaders in tackles are Julius Rucker (61), Joseph Lealofi (47) and Oshay Dunmore (43). Lealofi has nine tackles for losses, Dunmore has seven and Armando Gauger has six.
– On the NAIA team leaderboards, SOU is second in third-down conversion percentage (54.5), fourth in scoring (45.8), fifth in penalty yards (100.6), seventh in sacks (3.1), and eighth in total offense (500.4).

About Montana Tech: After going 1-9 last year, the notably rejuvenated Techsters come to town one of the hottest teams in the nation behind running back Nolan Saraceni. The junior averaged 44 rushing yards in 2014 and is up to 178 per contest this year and hasn't been held under 100 yet. In his last five games, he's gone for 198, 179, 188, 273 and 205 yards. That 273-yard game was part of Tech's 42-7 embarrassment of Carroll (a week after the Saints lost in OT at SOU), its worst loss ever at Nelson Field.

With transfer quarterback Quinn McQueary, a transfer from Montana State-Billings, recently shelved by injury, the Diggers have rushed 101 times and attempted 18 passes their last two games, and are averaging 292 rushing yards for the season. They're equally mean defensively, ranking second in the NAIA in sacks per game (3.9), seventh in rushing defense (104.6) and 12^th in yards allowed (308). Will Davey owns four of the team's 12 interceptions, and they're led in tackles and sacks by David Meis (55, 5) and Tyler Gavlak (53, 5).

Home History: SOU is 89-55 all-time at Raider Stadium and is 9-1 against the last 10 ranked opponents who have visited. Since taking over in 2011, Howard has led the Raiders to an 18-2 record at home.