MISSOULA — This is the week for which football fans across the Treasure State wait, and Saturday marks the 123rd meeting between archrivals Montana and Montana State.
The Bobcats (11-0, 7-0 Big Sky) are playing for the outright conference championship and a likely top-two seed for the upcoming FCS playoffs. The Grizzlies (8-3, 5-2) are out of the running for the Big Sky crown but are looking to improve their postseason credentials.
On this week's edition of the Grizzly Insider show, MTN Sports' Kyle Hansen and UM play-by-play broadcaster Riley Corocoran are joined by linebacker Ryan Tirrell and coach Bobby Hauck to set the stage from Montana's perspective.
Tirrell, a Missoula Loyola graduate and Hauck's nephew, joins the show to talk about last week's victory over Portland State on Senior Day in Missoula — which included a bizarre power outage at Washington-Grizzly Stadium — as well as his thoughts on what will be his final matchup with the Bobcats.
This will be Tirrell's fifth game against MSU since joining the program prior to the 2019 season. A starter at linebacker, Tirrell is having a solid season and leads the team with 89 total tackles. He also has 4.5 tackles for loss and two quarterback sacks.
Hauck joins the show to discuss last week's win over Portland State and to look ahead to the game against Montana State. This will be Hauck's 13th game against the Bobcats covering two separate stints as the Grizzlies' head coach. Hauck enters with a 7-5 record in the series.
The 123rd Brawl of the Wild kicks off Saturday at 12 p.m. at Bobcat Stadium in Bozeman. It will be broadcast by Scripps Sports and air on CBS affiliates across Montana. To watch this week's edition of the Grizzly Insider show, see the video player above.
