You can't ask for a better game to wrap up the regular season between football rivals. Humboldt State has the revenge factor at play. Western Oregon can wrap up what is arguably the most difficult schedule among D2 teams. A win for either will crown them the GNAC champion.
These teams know each other well. The game film library is packed, the rivalry is there and there's already one in the books from Monmouth just three weeks ago.
"Even though we beat them at home, a win on the road is going to be a very tough task to beat a very good Humboldt team," WOU head coach Arne Ferguson said on Wolves Weekly.
Rob Smith, Ferguson's counterpart down south at No. 18 Humboldt (6-1 GNAC, 8-1 overall), is also mindful of the task at hand.
"We have a competitive history with Western Oregon," he said in this week's pre-game release. The last time we played was one of those times where we didn't do much right, and they couldn't do much wrong. Our focus is entirely on trying to find a way to beat a good Western Oregon team. Last week our number ones played really well on both side of the ball against Dixie State. Our back-ups didn't do as well. It was a big win that sets up an even bigger game on Saturday."
In game one just three weeks ago, Western Oregon (6-1, 6-4) always had a bigger answer for Humboldt every time the Lumberjacks would ask a question. Humboldt opened the scoring with a field goal, Western Oregon answered with a field goal and an offensive and defensive touchdown. Humboldt State later scored on a two-yard Lyndon Rowells run, WOU put 13 more points on the board with a touchdown and two field goals. By then it was 30-10 going into the fourth quarter.
"We do anticipate a much different game than before," Ferguson said on Wolves Weekly. "Our D-line controled the game early, even though their O-line is very physical. We do anticipate that's going to be a hard fought battle. Same thing with our O-line against their D-line.
"Their quarterback does not turn the ball over," he continued. "We kept him off balance a little bit and got some turnovers in our favor. He does a very good job not taking sacks and keeping control of the football and the running back (Rowells) is one of the best running backs in the nation."
Rowells is good, averaging 130.1 ypg, first in the GNAC and ninth in the nation, behind a very good offensive line that doesn't allow many quarterback hurries either. Quarterback Mike Proulx is also No. 1 in the GNAC for passing yards (294.7 ypg, No. 7 nationally). Both players however, didn't have their usual success just three weeks ago in Monmouth. Rowells was held to 94 yards on 19 carries and Proulx threw for three picks (none, however, would result in scores for WOU). The 'Jacks also had four fumbles. While just one was recovered by the Wolves, it was taken into the end zone by Erik Hochhalter for the 17-3 lead.
That memory is not lost on the Lumberjacks.
"They beat us in all three phases of the game," Smith said in the HSU release. "I have confidence that our players have and will take the loss personally. We are two evenly matched teams, but on that day they were the better team. Proulx did not have a good game up there. We did not win the line of scrimmage on both side of the ball. That's where we will have to improve."
On paper, HSU is the better team. The Lumberjacks score more than the Wolves, the defense against the score is better than WOU and they tally nearly 100 more yards on the ground than WOU does. Of course, one look at round one proves that doesn't mean much.
What's going to have to happen again for WOU is the balance. The Wolves tacked on 187 yards on the ground and 200 yards in the air against Humboldt. That balance gives a coach and quarterback options in the play calling. And while WOU didn't do that great of a job converting turnovers into scores (one fumble recovery and three picks equated to just one touchdown), it's no secret that certainly disrupted HSU's game.
For Humboldt it's the opposite. Rowells has to run and score and Proulx has to stay aware of a WOU defensive line that nailed him five times.
Is it more difficult for WOU to win No. 2 on the road, or more difficult for HSU to overcome the fact the Lumberjacks were outplayed in round one?
What's possibly lost here is that while Humboldt is ranked 18th in the nation with an 8-1 record and has been battling for playoff positioning all year, the Wolves could be just as good. Yes, they couldn't get past Grand Valley, Abilene Christian, Montana and CWU (in the second game), but can a team get tougher by playing a very difficult schedule? Definitely. The Redwood Bowl is a difficult place to play this year. Chances are there will be another crowd that's pushing 7,000 fans and there's no need to remind the Lumberjacks about getting dismantled just three short weeks ago.
This is going against the grain, but Western Oregon 28-27.

CWU (3-6, 3-4) vs. Dixie State (1-9, 1-6)
Dixie State's Coach Scott Brumfield is no stranger to putting together a game plan, and he's no stranger to Central Washington, but Brumfield might want to take a hard look at CWU's upset loss to Simon Fraser last week as the Clan put 29 fourth quarter points on the board against in last week's contest.
It proves that Central Washington is vulnerable to overlooking an opponent. The good thing for CWU however, would be the fact that last week's lesson learned will probably spell out a big lesson given to Dixie State.
The Red Storm will be showcasing the future of their offense as freshman quarterback Stefan Cantwell has thrown for more than 1700 yards even though he didn't become the full-time starter until midway through the season. Cantwell threw for 307 yards and two scores against Central Washington earlier this season (falling victim to a relatively low two sacks). He also led the team with 101 yards rushing on 16 carries.
The Wildcats were non-existent on the ground, totaling 63 yards of rushing to supplement Jose Mohler's 259 passing yards in his first game as a starter after Ryan Robertson dislocated his hip the week earlier. Mohler certainly should have a better grasp of the offense in game mode, but CWU's offense scored 31 points against Dixie last time around, so that's not going to be the question for Saturday's game.
Defensively, CWU can't have a repeat of its fourth quarter performance against Simon Fraser last week or against Dixie State a few short weeks ago when the 'Cats bested the Red Storm by just 7, 31-24. At first, it looked as though this was shaping up for a rout, with CWU's scoring on a Dixie interception and then made it 14-0 soon after DSC missed a field goal. But DSC kept nagging at CWU all game long before time ran out on the Red Storm.
CWU is at home, it's had a horrible season based on the three previous successful years under Blaine Bennett. That will be enough to knock off the Red Storm once more and keep its record intact against the visitors (currently at 7-0 all time) with a 35-20 victory.

Jon Guddat covers the GNAC for D2football.