Northern Arizona rallied to force overtime before losing to Montana last year. Do you know how hard it is to beat the Grizzlies?
In four years, Montana has lost six games - four were in the playoffs, and one was at Iowa.
"We were right there," quarterback Michael Herrick said.
Just as in 2008, the Lumberjacks last year lost their last four games to finish out of the playoffs. But knowledge that NAU can contend with last year's national championship runner-up motivated the team all summer.
"Our first main goal is to win the Big Sky Conference," safety Matt Estrada said. "The other is to win a national championship. That's our dream goal. We have the players this year to do it."
For a team that finished 6-5 in 2008 and 5-6 last season, national-title talk is striking. That's a benefit of having an actual playoff, NAU coach Jerome Souers said.
"You can talk about those things," he said. "You can look at your team and look at those that have made it and have done it, and you can ask yourself, 'Why not?' instead of 'Why?'
"Are we that far away physically? At the end of the day, we weren't as close as we need to be.
"More schools talk about that than not, because if you can stay healthy and get yourself into the playoffs you can make a run at it. There's always teams in the playoffs you're surprised got there."
The "Why not?" campaign for the Lumberjacks starts with Herrick, who could be one of the best players in Division I-AA.
The Ole Miss transfer has been named to preseason All-America lists after throwing for 3,356 yards - fifth most in the country - and 22 scores last year.
Souers thinks Herrick could be one of the great quarterbacks in school history.
"There are very few throwers I remember being as accurate as he is," he said.
NAU's defense is aided by five seniors who received medical redshirts after being injured last year.
The team playing only one Division I-A opponent - as opposed to two last year - should help, too.
NAU is receiving the third-most votes outside the top 25 in the Sports Network/ Fathead.com NCAA Football Championship Subdivision poll.
A potential playoff berth starts with a league title, though.
"You've gotta dream big," Herrick said. "I don't want this team to settle for anything less.
"We believe we can make it there."
2010 NAU FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
September
Thu. 2 W. NEW MEXICO, 7:05 p.m.
Sat. 11 at Arizona State, 7:05 p.m.
Sat. 18 BYE
Sat. 25 at Idaho State, 2:35 p.m.
October
Sat. 2 at S. Utah, 12:05 p.m.
Sat. 9 at E. Washington, 1:05 p.m.
Sat. 16 MONTANA ST.*, 3:05 p.m.
Sat. 23 at Montana, noon
Sat. 30 SAC. STATE**, 3:05 p.m.
November
Sat. 6 at N. Colorado, 12:35 p.m.
Sat. 13 WEBER STATE, 3:05 p.m.
Sat. 20 PORTLAND ST., 3:05 p.m.
Home games in capital letters; times are subject to change
* Family weekend ** Homecoming
2010 NAU'S ROSTER BY NUMBER
No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr.
2 Austin Shanks WR 175 5-8 Jr.
5 Matt Estrada S 185 5-10 Sr.
6 Nick Ragland-Johnsen LB 211 6-0 Jr.
7 Michael Herrick QB 205 6-1 Sr.
8 Chasen Stangel QB 190 6-1 Jr.-RS
10 Sam Unger WR 185 6-0 Fr.-RS
12 Jarison Johnson RB 195 5-10 Jr.
13 Dillon Winiecki WR 198 6-3 Jr.-RS
14 Mike Czyz WR 180 5-10 Jr.
14 Randy Hale CB 175 5-10 Fr.
15 Chase Cartwright QB 215 6-3 Fr.
16 Cary Grossart QB 188 6-1 So.-RS
17 Ca'leve Deboskie WR 180 6-1 Fr.-RS
18 Khalil Paden WR 180 6-2 Jr.
19 Anders Battle CB 185 6-0 Fr.
19 Bryce Belle DB 185 5-10 Jr.
19 Taylor Julio S 185 6-0 So.-RS
20 Taelor Worrell CB 185 5-10 Sr.
21 Daivon Dumas CB 180 6-1 Sr.--RS
22 Giovannie Dixon RB 190 5-10 So.-RS
23 Jamaal Perkins RB 185 5-9 Fr.
24 Aaron Schoenecker TE 230 6-4 Sr.
24 Blake Bailey CB 170 5-8 Fr.
25 Mana Purdy CB 175 5-8 So.-RS
25 Kasseem Osheroff S 205 5-11 Jr.
26 Tanner Hansler S 175 5-10 So.
27 Darren Watson CB 190 6-1 Jr.-RS
28 Phil Pollock LB 195 6-1 Fr.-RS
29 Matt Myers K 200 6-0 Jr.
30 Jonathan DeWitt RB 180 5-10 Fr.
31 Brian Hunter S 185 6-0 Sr.
32 Keanu Kalolo LB 225 6-0 Fr.
33 Anthony Llanos LB 251 6-3 Sr.-RS
34 Reid Worthington LB 225 6-0 Sr.
35 Zach Bauman RB 200 5-10 Fr.
36 Max Zemezonak CB 175 5-10 So.-RS
38 Taylor Malenfant S 190 6-1 So.
39 Robert Watson S 190 6-0 Fr.
40 Andy Saldana LS/RB 205 5-11 Jr.
41 Andy Wilder K 205 6-3 Fr.
42 Drew Zamora K 187 6-1 Jr.
43 Jamil Hines RB 210 5-8 So.
44 Cody Dowd LB 250 6-3 Sr.-RS
46 Scott McKeever LB 225 6-1 Jr.-RS
47 Taylor Patton S 200 6-1 So.
48 Shad Bride S 193 5-10 Fr.-RS
49 Michael Battisti DL 240 6-3 Sr.-RS
50 Ben Bachelier LS 230 6-0 Jr.
52 Tooolefua Samuelu LB 236 6-1 Sr.
53 Jake Phipps DL 230 6-4 Fr.
53 Vinnie Paciulli FB/TE 230 6-1 Jr.-RS
54 Craig Frum LB 225 6-3 Fr.
55 Stuart Tawney OL 245 6-5 Fr.-RS
56 Brandon Phillips LB 215 5-10 So.
57 Anthony Williams OL 290 6-5 Sr.-RS
58 Sheehan Barnhart DL 255 6-3 Fr.
60 Shane Moniz OL 265 6-3 Fr.
61 Kris Poindexter OL 295 6-2 Sr.
62 Hayden Renning LS/LB 210 6-1 Fr.
64 Adrian Garcia OL 305 6-1 Sr.
66 Chase Wick OL 275 6-3 Fr.-RS
67 Roy Garcia DL 250 6-3 Fr.
68 Jeff Hines OL 312 6-0 Sr.-RS
70 Grant Denny OL 275 6-4 Jr.-RS
71 Dwight Boyd DL 325 6-5 Jr.
71 Joe Gurski OL 280 6-5 Fr.
72 Trey Gilleo OL 280 6-6 So.-RS
75 Kyle Walker OL 260 6-4 Fr.-RS
76 Danny Roper OL 280 6-4 So.-RS
77 Gareth Facciano OL 265 6-5 Fr.-RS
77 Junior Vicente OL 265 6-0 Fr.
78 Alex Mott OT 290 6-5 Jr.-RS
79 Chris Pitts OL 250 6-5 Jr.
80 Ify Umodu WR 215 6-3 Fr.
81 Jeremy Dang WR 215 6-3 Fr.-RS
82 Daniel Adler WR 180 5-9 Jr.
83 Louis Schenk TE 253 6-4 Sr.-RS
85 Nick Larson TE 245 6-8 Sr.
86 Brian Riley TE 252 6-4 Jr.-RS
87 Jesse Bueno WR 180 6-0 Fr.
88 Daiveun Chapman WR 205 6-2 Sr.
88 Drew Emanuel TE 225 6-4 Fr.
89 Jon Dunn WR 150 5-6 So.-RS
89 Kyle Rath DL 271 6-5 Sr.-RS
90 Sebastian Sica OL 280 6-0 Fr.-RS
90 Tim Wilkinson DL 290 5-11 Fr.
91 Zack Ka'ahanui DL 265 6-1 So.
92 Gary Rogers DE 245 6-1 Sr.-RS
93 Kainoa Pe'a DL 250 6-0 Sr.-RS
94 Jarret Bilbrey DL 220 6-5 So.-RS
95 Blayne Anderson DL 275 6-4 Jr.
96 Isaac Bond DL 240 6-4 Jr.-RS
97 Alec Hutton DL 250 6-4 Jr.-RS
97 Matt Wilson OL 265 6-6 Fr.-RS
98 Dan Pela DL 275 6-3 Jr.-RS
99 Brandon Vance DL 236 6-2 Sr.
Please Wait…
