How to watch Montana vs. Montana State on TV, plus 3 things to know

The Battle for the Great Divide Trophy will be awarded this Saturday. If Montana can’t defeat Montana State, their shot at a piece of the Big Sky Conference title -- and their postseason hopes in general -- will be finished.

The 6-4 Grizzlies will travel 200 miles east on I-90 to Bozeman for the annual Cat-Griz game (or, if you prefer, Griz-Cat) that pits the two in-state rivals in a battle for Treasure State supremacy. Montana has struggled after starting the Bob Stitt era with a monster win over reigning FCS Champion North Dakota State back in August. Since then, they’ve lost to middle of the road teams like Weber State, Liberty and Cal Poly. That has made the Griz a long shot for an FCS Championship invite after earning berths in 2013 and 2014, but they’ll still have a chance if they can claim a share of the Big Sky title with a win and a Southern Utah loss on Saturday.

The 5-5 Bobcats are playing for pride in a rivalry game that they’ve historically been on the losing side of. Montana State is 37-71-5 against that team from Missoula all time. They’ve only won five of the last 26 meetings between these two programs, but a win this weekend wouldn’t just give them a shiny trophy. It would also help the ‘Cats avoid their first losing season since 2001.

TV: 2:10 p.m. ET, ROOT Sports

Radio: Montana, Montana State

Online streaming: N/A

Spread: Montana is favored by 7 points.

1. Expect offense. The Grizzlies are scoring nearly 30 points per game this season, and they’ll be outgunned by a Bobcat team that hasn’t been afraid to run up the score in 2015. State is scoring 42.6 points per game this season, good for fifth in the FCS. Dakota Prukop is a dangerous dual-threat quarterback, who has rolled up 3,470 yards of total offense in 10 games this season and is responsible for 2.5 touchdowns per game, either through the air or on the ground.

2. Montana State needs to hold onto the ball for as long as possible. The Bobcats are an all-offense program thanks to a bottom-10 defense that allows more than 466 yards per game. That could mean big things for Montana junior tailback John Nyugen. Nyugen sprang for 102 yards on only 15 carries in a blowout win over Eastern Washington last week. He’ll have the opportunity to gash a Bobcat squad that has given up more than 250 rushing yards per game to their opponents.

3. Tyrone Holmes has developed into one of college football’s scariest pass rushers. The senior defensive end leads the FCS in sacks (14) and has stopped opponents behind their own line of scrimmage 19 times in 10 games. He broke out of a two-game sackless slump by bringing down Eastern Washington’s quarterbacks three times last week. The 6’4, 250-pound edge rusher is a probably 2016 NFL Draft pick, but you can watch him before he blows up in the big leagues on Saturday.