MISSOULA — Montana has an archrival. And unlike so many other college football rivalries in the West, the annual clash for the Grizzlies against the arch nemesis Bobcats is still a sort of Super Bowl, or Super Brawl, as it were.
This week, some Grizzlies called Saturday’s clash with Idaho a rivalry game. Others deflected, reemphasizing emphatically that Montana has but one rival. And it’s not the Vandals.
But Montana and Idaho have played for more than 100 years. Only one Big Sky Conference football program has a winning record all-time against Montana and that program resides on the Palouse in Moscow. One of the most iconic trophies in college football is awarded to the winner of The Battle for the Little Brown Stein.
So regardless of the semantics, Saturday’s showdown between a suddenly searching Griz team and a one-win but upset-minded UI squad certainly has rivalry energy.
The Grizzlies and Vandals have been playing football since 1903. They’ve played more than 100 times. On Saturday, the old rivals meet inside Washington-Grizzly Stadium on the weekend Montana celebrates 40 years of its iconic home, with more than 200 Griz football alumni expected back in Missoula for the occasion.
“This battle for the Little Brown Stein, it is a true rivalry,” Idaho head coach Thomas Ford Jr. said on Vandals Weekly this week. “It is something that’s been going on since 1903. This trophy has passed hands so many times that it is something that kind of brings back the nostalgia of college football, right? Those true regional rivalries, those matchups that happen every single year.”
Ford knows what’s happened to those matchups across the Pacific Northwest. He coached in the Apple Cup and in the Oregon-Oregon State series, two rivalries that have been reshuffled or put on hold by conference realignment.
“I’m just really glad that we can continue that rivalry,” Ford said. “Because again, I do think that there’s going to be eyes on this game that maybe haven’t watched it in the past few years.”
A rivalry with roots
For Griz fans of a certain age, Idaho was the rival. The Vandals were a Big Sky Conference power through the 1970s, ’80s and early ’90s before leaving the league, and the games in Moscow and Missoula were wars. The Vandals hold an all-time record of 57–32–2 against UM, including 22 wins in 31 games between 1963 and 1995 (the Big Sky era) before the Vandals left the league.
Ironically, when Idaho bounced to the WAC, then the Sun Belt and the series continued, Montana dominated even though the Griz were still in a “lower” division. Idaho beat Montana 55-43 in Moscow during UM’s 1995 national championship season (the last loss of Dave Dickenson’s illustrious Griz career) and again 33-30 in 1999 in Missoula.
Then Montana ripped off four straight wins over the Vandals — 45-38 in 2000 in Pullman, Washington; 33-27 in 2001 in Missoula; 38-31 in Missoula in 2002; and 41-28 in Missoula in 2003 in the game referenced below — until UI put a halt to the Battle for the Little Brown Stein.
Idaho’s return to the Big Sky has given the series new life, at least in the consistency of the two teams playing, save 2024 when the two teams didn’t play. Since UI’s return to the league ahead of the 2018 season, Montana has five of the six league matchups between the two age-old foes.
The Griz enter the game coming off a disappointing 49-44 loss at No. 8 Northern Arizona in which the Griz led NAU quarterback Ty Pennington score six total touchdowns + gave up a kick return touchdowns to lose the first game of the Bobby Kennedy era.
Idaho enters Saturday’s game with just one win, but it was a big one. Two weeks ago, the Vandals rallied for a 35-34 win over previous No. 1 Montana State, the defending national champions. UI quarterback Joshua Wood punched in a two-point conversion with no time on the clock to secure Idaho’s lone win of 2026.
Each game brings a first for Montana first-year head coach Bobby Kennedy. Saturday is no different.
“It’s cool to be a part of games like this. I’ve always embraced trophy games and tradition games,” Kennedy said on ESPN MT. “Playing for the Little Brown Stein is a big thing. We’ve had it most recently. We’d like to keep it.”
“You look at a tradition game that’s been over 100 years that our fans think is a really important game. Their fans think is a really important game. We’ve got to do our best to give that the respect it deserves, but also understand the importance and the meaning of this game for our program and for their program.”
One of Idaho’s most iconic wins of its Division I-AA era came when the Vandals drilled the eventual national champion Grizzlies That loss served as the final of Dickenson’s one of a kind Montana career. That L was the only Big Sky loss of Montana’s 1995 season. And following that defeat at the Kibbie Dome, UM ripped off seven straight wins, including a 22-20 win over Marshall to claim the first football national championship in University of Montana history.
The Montana quarterbacking legend, now the head coach and general manager of the CFL’s Calgary Stampeders, said his own arrival on the national scene came in his first game against Idaho in 1993, when the Vandals had Walter Payton Award winner Doug Nussmeier and head coach John L. Smith.
“They had a heck of a squad,” Dickenson said on the ESPN Roundtable on Nuanez Now on Wednesday. “And then we went in there and surprised them, and it was a huge win for our program.”
In his first year as Montana’s starting quarterback, Dickenson completed 32 of his 40 passes for 512 yards and four touchdowns. Scott Guernsey (seven catches, 137 yards, TD), Shalon Baker (six catches, 123 yards, TD) and Matt Wells (six catches, 104 yards) all went over 100 yards as UM
Dickenson faced the Vandals three times in his career, twice on the road. The lone home game came in 1994, a 45-21 Montana win.
“I know it was actually when I was there, they were the team that was kind of the ones that were winning and in the playoffs, and they had an advantage,” Dickenson said. “And ultimately I think the Griz have turned the tables on them. Certainly still a good rival. … It’s still a huge game in the program. And it’s fun that anything that has a trophy aligned with it, you know what I mean? I think that makes it a little bit more important.”
He is glad the Vandals are back in the league.
“I’m glad Idaho’s back in. I think this is a huge rivalry,” Dickenson said. “As you can see, they got the best of the Cats. They can beat anybody.”
Kraig Paulson, the original No. 37 who played in the very first game at Washington-Grizzly Stadium in 1986 and later coached the Griz defense (1987-1999, 2004-2009) remembers when Idaho was a fixture on the schedule this time of year.
“Big time. Big time,” Paulson said when asked if a rivalry game was a fitting way to celebrate the stadium’s 40th anniversary. “Obviously the ‘Cat game used to be around Halloween, and Idaho was usually around this time. But yeah, it’s perfectly fitting. It’ll be a great day.”
40 years of Washington-Grizzly
Montana opened Washington-Grizzly Stadium on Oct. 18, 1986, against Idaho State. Saturday’s game falls almost 40 years to the day later, and the Griz are expecting a homecoming of a different kind. Kennedy said he has been told there could be as many as 200 former players at Thursday’s practice alone, and he plans to have a few of them address the team.
“If that doesn’t get you fired up and goosebumps and understand the enormity of the moment…” Kennedy said.
Kennedy called the stadium “an icon in college football.”
“I do not take for granted when I lead our team out onto the field,” he said. “Really, I don’t lead our team out on the field. I kind of let them go first and then I run behind them because I don’t want to get run over.”
Dickenson, who said he’d be in the stands if he weren’t in the stretch run of the CFL season as the head coach of the Calgary Stampeders (they play the BC Lions Saturday in the regular-season finale), said he hopes the reunion means something to the players on the field.
“I think it’s important to reconnect with the guys and what they’re doing,” Dickenson said, “and making sure everyone feels like what they laid on the line means something that matters.”
Even the visiting coach is looking forward to the scene. Idaho played in Missoula last season in a 41-30 UM win. Ford said about 75 percent of that traveling roster is back.
“Anytime you’re going to go play Washington-Grizzly Stadium, it’s going to be a challenge,” Ford said. “That is one of the most electric atmospheres I’ve ever been a part of as a coach. … We know it’s going to be a packed house. And so you don’t have to bring your own juice.”
Montana looks to bounce back
Braeden Orlandi, the Carroll College transfer who spent his bye weeks at Carroll in the stands at Washington-Grizzly Stadium, said the Griz back end has plenty to clean up after giving up 42 points last week defensively. He’s one of 10 players that have started so far in Montana’s banged up secondary, which could be a key factor against Wood, who leads the Big Sky by averaging 283 passing yards per game and also doubles as Idaho’s leading rusher.
NAU quarterback Ty Pennington threw for 323 yards and a TD, rushed for four more scores and even caught a touchdown last weekend in Flagstaff. Montana’s defense looked solid the first month of the season, lost against Oregon State in a 52-17 loss and back to functional in two straight wins before last week’s setback.
“Especially after a loss, you’ve got to be extra critical,” Orlandi said. “At the end of the day, we’re a resilient group, and that’s tradition of Montana. Win or lose, we’re resilient. And so, don’t think for one second that this group isn’t going to bounce back.”
Orlandi knows what the week means to the fan base, even if the approach inside the building doesn’t change and even if its his first Battle for the Little Brown Stein.
“Obviously it’s a rivalry game, but at the same time, we’ve got to approach it like any other game,” he said. “You can’t look at it as too big of a game or too small of a game. … We know it means a lot to the fans here, and it means a lot to us.”
Idaho is just 5-13 under Ford, but the five losses this season have come by a total of 23 points, including just 12 points during UI’s 0-4 start. Eight of the 13 losses have come by seven points or less.
This year, Idaho is second in the league in passing offense but just 10th in scoring (27.7 points per game). But defense has been the Achilles heel.
Ford also reserved high praise for the Griz offense, and for running back Eli Gillman in particular. Gillman reached a new milestone last week with three total touchdowns, giving him 70 in his illustrious career. He needs just five touchdowns from scrimmage to break Kupp’s all-time Big Sky record. He needs just eight total touchdowns to surpass the former NFL Offensive Player of the Year.
Idaho gave up 308 yards rushing last week as two different Weber State running backs rushed for over 130 yards. Idaho ranks dead last in the Big Sky giving up 246 rushing yards per game.
“Gillman is the best running back in FCS football, and I don’t think it’s particularly close,” Ford said. “That guy is powerful. He’s got great patience. He’s got great vision. And he’s got top-end speed, especially for a guy that’s so big and so heavy.”
The Griz have showed flashes defensively, but also have struggled in each of their two losses. Despite their record. the Vandals will certainly test the Griz.
Kennedy pointed to Wood, who can make plays with his feet and also stretch the pocket, as a key factor in Montana’s defensive approach on Saturday.
“I know it’s been a rough start for them, but I don’t think they’d like anything better than to beat the Cats and then to beat us, right?” Kennedy said. “So we’ve got to respond to the challenge and lick our wounds a little bit, but not look back.”
Ford, whose team lost 38-27 at Weber State in a rain and lightning-delayed game last week, is selling his locker room on the idea that the Big Sky race is still wide open.
“No one will be an undefeated conference champion this year,” Ford said. “We’ve just talked a lot about, why not us? … This is a rivalry game. So if you can’t get up for this game, I don’t know if you can get up for any of these games.”
