As a blogger, it's important to stay as non-biased as possible, but forgive me for showing some nerves this week.

As much as I don't want to admit it, it's going to take some big time help for Humboldt to get into the playoffs. The Lumberjacks are good, but the loss to Azusa Pacific and going with a bye week last month instead of another out of conference D2 game (those are harder to come by than it is to defend Terrell Watson) could be their undoing. At this point Humboldt needs losses by Northwest Missouri, Sioux Falls and Pittsburg State to get them in (and even then, that's not guaranteed). Conventional wisdom says a loss by Ouachita Baptist (No. 2 in the region) indicates that would be enough to drop them completely out as well. Pitt State still has to go up against Central Missouri and Central Oklahoma (both 7-2). Sioux Falls hosts middling Upper Iowa and Wayne State (Neb). Those should be wins. NW Missouri (the defending national champion) has Emporia State and Washburn, again two games that should be "W's" for the Bearcats.

What about Azusa Pacific? Well, despite dropping from fifth to sixth and very much a playoff-contender, I'm worried the playoff selection committee at the NC(Big Brother)AA would favor Sioux Falls squad over APU. APU's Cougars barely got by a difficult Western Oregon squad last week and takes on a Simon Fraser team that played them way to close earlier this season. Azusa also finishes with non-counter Menlo next weekend.

Let's skip the whole, "the GNAC needs to change argument". Nothing is going to fix our current predicament this week and nothing is going to change the GNAC's preicament next year either. We're in this situation for another handful of years at best, so the best to hope for is a scheduling alliance with another league.

What I can tell you is this: We all watch scores from around the country and certainly within our Super Region 3. My guess is we're all going to be paying even closer attention to those GAC, MIAA and NSIC games this weekend.

But let's discuss this week's contests.

Game of the Week
Western Oregon (2-2 GNAC, 4-5 overall) vs. Humboldt State (3-1, 7-1)
If I was Humboldt State, I'd watch film again and again to see what Western Oregon did to hold Azusa in check until the very end. That is classic Western Oregon. Those guys have a knack for ruining seasons (see Humboldt State, 2011) or nearly pulling it off (see Azusa last week and Central Washington in 2009). Western Oregon's biggest knock is they can't make it a complete dominant season, but it's clear those guys down in Monmouth can recruit with so few scholarship dollars and those guys can play.

Back to the game at hand. Humboldt is a very complete team. I don't think Western Oregon is as complete, but that offense can put together an aerial attack to give defensive coordinators nightmares. In September's meeting (a 34-16 Lumberjack win), Humboldt State dominated the clock, holding the ball nearly 13 more minutes than Western Oregon. That equated to just eight more offensive plays (Western Oregon's passing attack stops the clock a bunch), but 107 more yards and 18 more points. In typical fashion, WOU outgained HSU in the air, but netted a total of negative 22 yards. For the Wolves to get the "W", they'll need to reverse that big time. The Wolves don't rely on the run, so the expectation isn't to suddenly gain 100-plus yards, but getting a few scores or putting themselve deep into the red zone for field goal tries will be the key.

Another intangible? Western Oregon is at home. At this point in the season, that's big. The grind of eight to 10 games is starting to show - although the Lumberjacks did have a bye three weeks ago - and not having to travel 10 hours via the bus has to be a factor.

I'm probably in the minority here, but Western Oregon's success against Azusa Pacific shows the Wolves might be out of GNAC championship contention, but they're not dead. Western Oregon has beat Humboldt when the stakes were big before and they'll do it again. The Wolves, 33-27.

Simon Fraser (2-3, 2-7) vs. No. 19 Azusa Pacific (5-0, 8-1)
On paper, the first meeting between Azusa Pacific and Simon Fraser looked closer than it was. The Clan lost on the road to the Cougars by just eight, and despite the deficit on the clock (Azusa had an 11 minute advantage) and gaining nearly 200 fewer yards, Simon Fraser kept it interesting.

But again, it wasn't close. Azusa had a 20-point halftime lead and (as I just stated) dominated the clock and the yardage gained.

With that being said - and despite it being in Burnaby this weekend - Azusa has too much going for them to get tripped up this weekend. My detractors might mention Western Oregon's near upset as proof the Cougars aren't pefect, but I belive that wakeup call and the fact that the playoffs are within sight is enough to get APU a convincing victory. Cougars, 40-20.

Dixie State (0-4, 1-8) vs. Central Washington (3-2, 5-4)
Dixie State is trying to salvage a season here. In some aspects, Central Washington is in the same boat. But expectations were a bit loftier for the Wildcats with new head coach Ian Shoemaker installing a high profile offensive scheme. It's an offense we saw plenty of when the Red Storm and Wildcats met in week two this year. CWU had nearly 600 total offensive yards (with five different Wildcats crossing the goal line) in the 48-14 victory in Ellensburg.

Dixie has been difficult to beat in the past in St. George. The Red Storm defeated CWU in 2011 and CWU narrowly defeated Dixie in 2008 and 2010 at Hansen Stadium. On paper, this shouldn't be close, but of course who would've thought a Mike Reilly-led CWU squad would need overtime to beat Dixie in 2008?

The Wildats are clearly the better team here, but it won't be as decisive as it was in September. CWU over DSU, 40-23.

South Dakota Mines (2-7) vs. Southwest Baptist (2-7)
This will be the second Great Lakes Valley Conference foe for South Dakota Mines. The Hardrockers defeated William Jewell 62-44 earlier this year, the same William Jewell squad that defeated Southwest Baptist by three in mid-September.

SD Mines defeated Dixie by one on the road last week. The Hardrockers are at home against an SBU team that really likes to pass (nearly 360 yards per game), but doesn't stop the run that well (opponents are averaging 213 yards on the ground).

What does that mean? This is going to be a track meet with a potential basketball score.......and I'm staying with my Hardrockers. SD Mines 50-40.