Three-year-old Ian Burgard shows his Bobcat game face for grandma Carol Perlinski during a live recording of the Bobcast radio booster show Wednesday night at Old Chicago.

Mike Kramer has a simple message for anyone who will listen to him this week.

"Challenge every play," he has said to his players, his assistant coaches and students he encounters on campus, members of the media, his wife and daughters. "Contest every pass. Go after the ball in the air."

That exhortation comes during college football's holiest time in Montana, Cat-Griz week. The Bobcats battle in-state rival Montana on Saturday at 12 noon in Missoula's Washington-Grizzly Stadium.

Kramer's words are more than a philosophy, more than a mantra. Upon those words, Kramer has rebuilt the MSU program. The Bobcats led the Big Sky Conference in total defense in 2002 and '03, and at 6-2 less than three weeks ago were unquestionably in control of a league they won each of the last two seasons.

Then it all came crashing down.

First, Sacramento State gouged a mistake-prone Bobcat defense for 489 yards in an upset loss to the Hornets. Last week, Eastern Washington overcame a slow start to post 536 in the Eagles' 51-44 overtime win in Bozeman. For Kramer, surrendering 1,025 yards in two weeks is hard to live with.

"We've lost some of our swagger," he says, "and we need to find it in a hurry. We need to play with aggression, because that is how we play. It's who we are. We need to play defiantly and with a sense of urgency about making the next play and forgetting the last one."

Forgetting the last month of offense generated by the Bobcat program won't be an easy task for Bobcat fans or Big Sky Conference opponents. Since generating only 637 yards in back-to-back league wins over Weber State and Portland State, the Montana State offense has exploded. The 'Cats have rolled up at least 400 yards in the last six games, a school-record string, and in the last three weeks have averaged an incredible 601 yards a game.

Kramer is nonplused. "This is us," he says. "We're not running new plays. We're not doing different things. Our fans are seeing the same Bobcat offense they've seen for five years, but they're seeing supreme execution by a great, great quarterback and by what I believe is the best offensive line play at this school in over 30 years."

Quarterback Travis Lulay has produced at a historic rate, throwing for over 300 yards for five straight games, a Bobcat first. He has also produced with his feet, rushing for 110 yards last week and 211 yards in the last five outings. He has rocketed to the top of the Big Sky total offense list, and is second in Division I-AA.

"Travis' ascendancy is coincidental with the stellar play of our offensive line, led by (assistant coach) Jason McEndoo," Kramer said. "I've watch Montana State play football since 1970, when I saw the Bobcats play Idaho in Pullman, Wash., and this is the best I've seen this program's offensive line play. Travis has taken advantage of the line and of the increased effectiveness of our receivers."

In spite of the offensive fireworks, Kramer says his team enters this year's Bobcat-Grizzly game in a different mood than the last two years. "We were somber (at the beginning of the week)," Kramer said. "This team will be ready to play, and this is a tremendously important game for us, but our goals at the beginning of the season are to win the Big Sky and compete for the national championship. We won't reach those goals, so there was disappointment."

There has been little disappointment among Bobcat fans at the end of the last two regular seasons. MSU beat Montana each of the past two years, a fact that is neither lost nor dwelled on by Kramer, his staff, or Bobcat players.

"Once we ended that thing, that 16-year debacle, I think a lot of the fun and civility re-entered this rivalry."

While the Bobcats cannot win the Big Sky title and are likely not being considered for an NCAA playoff bid, the game has considerable meaning for Montana. The Grizzlies can clinch a share of their seventh Big Sky title with a win, and are almost assured the program's 11th straight playoff trip. Still, Kramer says fouling any possible achievements by his program's chief rival plays no part in this week's preparation.

"We have no interest in spoiling anything for anyone," Kramer said. "We have no malevolence toward them. This game is about us playing well in our last game, ending the season on a positive note, and paying proper tribute to an outstanding group of seniors."

MSU's 13 seniors end their Bobcat careers Saturday and, as Kramer's first Bobcat recruiting class, hold a special place in the head coach's esteem.

"These guys will always have a special place in this program's history," Kramer said. "They pulled us off the mat. They came in here and worked hard and did what their coaches asked of them. This is an outstanding group of players, and an outstanding group of young men."

Written by Bill Lamberty and posted 11/19/04.