Central Washington (1-3, 1-2 GNAC) vs. Western Oregon (3-2, 3-0)
The GNAC gets negative publicity because of its round robin schedule, but GNAC fans have to be looking forward to this rematch. Just a few weeks ago, WOU took advantage of five CWU turnovers to knock off the Wildcats 14-7 - the first win in 15 tries for the Wolves. While 14 points off of five turnovers could be considered missing plenty more opportunities, the fact remains that the win kept Western Oregon in the hunt for the GNAC title with Humboldt State (and those two still haven't played each other yet). But CWU head coach Blaine Bennett definitely remembers WOU. "They're real fresh on our minds," he said of the game just three weeks ago. "When we were coming home from Western Oregon, I asked the staff for four or five things to do differently and we're implementing that."

Western Oregon could use a win here. Beyond the obvious reasons of staying undefeated in the GNAC, the Wolves have to be looking for a little validity as they have now been knocked off by both of the D2 powerhouses (Grand Valley and Abilene Christian) they scheduled outside of the GNAC round robin. Is Central considered a powerhouse? Not this year, but the 'Cats are still dangerous, as proven by running back Levi Taylor's 153 yards on 20 carries last week against Simon Fraser as well as Anthony Spain's 11 receptions for 166 yards against Humboldt State last month. Defensively, Taylor Tanasse has 8 TFL and Stan Langlow has two picks, two pass breakups and another four defended passes this season. And yes, while WOU won the last battle, Central won the previous 14.

Even in a loss, WOU proved they could contend with ACU last week. Evan Mozzochi threw for 365 yards and three scores. Trevor Gates and Josh McFarland both eclipsed 100 yards receiving and Isaiah Buchanan had 10 SOLO tackles. To use a little coach-speak, that guy was flyin' around the ball.

But let's look at round one three weeks ago. Western Oregon's defense was firing on all cylinders in Monmouth. The Wolves picked off three Ryan Robertson passes, forced five fumbles (recovering two) and also sacked Robertson another three times. In its first eight possessions (through the middle of the third quarter) Central punted five times and lost the possession due to turnovers two other times. Despite the fact that Robertson threw for 322 yards, CWU had no running game (44 yards). WOU wasn't perfect, getting flagged 11 times for 115 yards and totaling just 301 yards of offense (65 fewer yards than Central). WOU punted eight times on the day ("We're gonna have to be better," WOU head coach Arne Ferguson said on Wolves Weekly. "Our No. 1 thing is we need to play more accurately and fix those mistakes"). But again, when it mattered most, the Wolves took advantage of short-field situations thanks to turnovers, taking four plays to go 24 yards to get on the scoreboard and then punching it in from five yards out late in the first half for the 14-0 halftime lead that would hold up.

Central Washington continues to take major hits on the defensive side of the ball. While Genesis Fonoimoana is back in the defensive secondary after a one-game suspension, DE Tyrell Nielsen, DE Andrew Oney, DL Alex Griffith and DB Sean Coley are out with injuries. For the offense, WR Spain - CWU's leading receiver with 27 receptions and 366 yards - is suspended for this week.

That doesn't mean the Wildcats will hand this game to the Wolves. The talk on the field after the win last week against Simon Fraser was of a much more focused Wildcat squad, happy to get one in the win column and ready to show the rest of the GNAC that not only are the 'Cats mathematically still eligible for the GNAC title, but also mentally ready.

However, with the injuries compounding on the defensive line for Central Washington and a Wildcat offense that is still looking for consecutive quality games, Western Oregon will squeak out another win over the Wildcats, 27-24.

#25 Humboldt State (4-0, 3-0) at FCS UC-Davis (1-3)
At first glance, one would think a ranked Humboldt State team going up against a FCS squad that has been outscored by 100 points in three losses is going to be a yawner of a game. However, this UC-Davis squad is a bit of a mystery. In all fairness to the Aggies, their losses have been to the 22nd-best team in the FBS in Arizona State, FBS Hawaii and the fourth-best team in the FCS, Montana State. Difficult doesn't begin to describe that schedule.

So with that said what kind of team is UC-Davis? Is this a team that can't run the ball at all (60 rush ypg), or doesn't run very often because the pass works better when trying to put points on the board when behind (in each of those three losses, UC-Davis scored mostly in the second half when games were already out of reach). Quarterback Randy White doesn't really have a go-to receiver to choose from as just three guys have 10 catches or more and no one has more than 18 receptions over the course of four games.

And yes, to compare Humboldt State's opponents (SFU, Colorado Mesa, Dixie) to Arizona State, Montana State and Hawaii is ludicrous, but the Lumberjacks have put together a fine season thus far. A key component for HSU will be to keep the UCD ground attack unproductive for another game. The 'Jacks have so far held teams to 110 ypg on the ground and 313 ypg overall (UCD is averaging less than 300 total ypg).

Conversely, Humboldt is at or near the top of the GNAC leaderboard in many offensive categories as well, including total offensive yardage (502 ypg) and scoring offense (a shade less than 40 ppg).

Is it crazy to think that an FCS team like Davis that has already been tested numerous times this season could lose a home game to a D2 team? Maybe, but it's not unheard of. This game has no bearing on the Super Region 4 rankings, but has so much meaning within the California football circle (you think HSU head coach Rob Smith would talk to potential recruits about beating a UC-Davis team recruiting the same person?). Humboldt State is flying high being ranked in Division II for the first time in its history and UC-Davis has to be mentally beat up for such a rough start to its season. Humboldt gets the upset five hours away from home, 28-24.

Simon Fraser (1-4, 0-4) vs. Dixie State (1-4, 1-2)
Like CWU and WOU, this is round two of a previous meeting already this year. How did that meeting go? "Dixie State thumped us down there," SFU head coach Dave Johnson said last week of the 42-7 whupping Dixie State put on Simon Fraser.

However, this next contest is immediately different. For one, Simon Fraser is at home, rather than in southern Utah. Secondly, eight players - mostly starters - who didn't make the trip to Simon Fraser on Sept. 17 will be suited up on Saturday, which is a significant difference in the two deep.

Dixie's Red Storm is looking to keep ahead of Simon Fraser's Clan in the GNAC standings. The Clan is looking to get their first GNAC win and first win against a Division II team. For SFU to get that "W", they'll need to do what every other team has done thus far this year - get to quarterback Cody Stevenson. Stevenson was sacked five times against SFU and has hit the turf a NCAA-worst 33 times in five games in 2011. Offensively, if Gabriel Ephard is back, that gives the Clan three running backs (Bo Palmer, Ephard and Cole Tudor) who could all hit the century mark. For Dixie State to get its second win over Simon Fraser this season, it will have to again score early (in the first meeting the Red Storm scored on the first drive and then on back-to-back drives in the early second quarter) and defensively will have to hold the Clan to the same insignificant yardage throughout the game as it did the first time around (held SFU to 147 yards until the Clan's touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter.

We're going to call it right here, Simon Fraser earns its first GNAC victory with a 31-20 decision over Dixie State.

Jon Guddat covers the GNAC for D2football.com.