Dec. 4—BROOKINGS — South Dakota State has defeated Montana in the playoffs in each of the last two seasons, and both times that’s what was supposed to happen.In 2023, the Jackrabbits were defending national champions, winners of 28 games in a row and putting the finishing touches on one of the most dominant seasons in FCS history. The Grizzlies were a good team, but they felt more like sacrificial lamb than a threat to upset the Jacks.SDSU won 23-3.Last year the Jacks were aiming for a three-peat, and they hosted Montana in the second round, the Grizzlies’ first trip to Brookings in the Division I era. Montana was in something of a transitional season, qualifying for an at-large berth at 8-4.The Jacks won 35-18 (and it wasn’t nearly that close).This year, however, the tables have turned.Montana (11-1) is the No. 3 seed, having won their first 11 games of the season before dropping their regular season finale to rival Montana State. They got a first round bye in the FCS playoffs.SDSU is the 14-seed. They’re 9-4, having endured a late-season four-game losing streak and winning last week’s playoff opener 41-3 over New Hampshire. They’re headed to Washington-Grizzly Stadium on Saturday for a 1 p.m. second-round playoff battle.Are the Griz the ones who are supposed to win this time? Maybe. But this one looks almost too close to call.The biggest thing Montana has going for them is the home field. Washington-Grizzly holds 26,000 fans, and unlike in Brookings and other places around the FCS, they haven’t had trouble getting fans to come to playoff games. They had more than 20,000 for each home playoff game in 2023, including a semifinal sellout against NDSU.SDSU has never won in Missoula, and at times have found ways to lose spectacularly.They blew a 38-7 lead and lost there in 1993. They blew a 41-14 lead and lost there in 2009. They fell behind 24-0 in 2015 and ended up losing 24-17. Those last two were playoff games.The Jacks are hoping their recent success against the Griz can carry over into one of the most hostile environments in college football.”It’ll be a challenging game,” said SDSU coach Dan Jackson. “We’re excited about it. Our players are really looking forward to playing in this type of environment. They embrace it, enjoy it. I think it’s two really good programs that have historically been powerhouses and those games turned into a lot of fun.”Jackson was SDSU’s cornerbacks coach the last time they played in Missoula. While Washington-Grizzly was every bit as intimidating then as it is now, the Jacks weren’t the program they are now. They had still never earned a top-8 seed in the FCS playoffs at that time. But they’d soon begin climbing the ladder to top-10 contender. They started hosting playoff games. Playing into December. And eventually, appearing in three national championship games, winning two. Last year they reached the semifinals. There are players on the current roster with plenty of December experience.”There was some learning and growing that needed to happen at that point,” Jackson said of previous trips to Missoula. “Well, now, this is a different ball game. I mean, we’re a national champion-type program now. Our players have the utmost confidence in their ability to beat anybody in the country at any level. Whenever we step on the field, there’s an expectation and standard to win the game and play at your highest level. And so I just think that our guys’ mindset, the evolution of our program over time, and then this team in particular, the connection and cohesion amongst this group to be able to handle anything is a little bit unique. And I think puts us in a situation where we can have success in challenging environments. So our guys are fired up. I mean, they can’t wait.”For the Griz, there’s some pressure to deal with, too. They got a brutal draw. As a 3-seed with a first-round bye, you expect your first opponent to be a significant underdog. And if SDSU came in at 7-5 without quarterback Chase Mason, they would be. But the Jacks won their regular season finale to get to 8-4, then welcomed Mason back to the lineup last week. He threw for 230 yards and three touchdowns in the rout of New Hampshire, and the Jacks suddenly don’t look anything like the team that lost four in a row down the stretch. They look a lot like a national championship contender.The Griz are essentially being faced with a semifinal-caliber opponent in the second round, facing the possibility of going one-and-done just weeks after they were 11-0 and looking like a favorite to get to Nashville. That could still very well happen, but SDSU’s re-emergence has made their path much more difficult.”They’ve spent a good part of the season highly ranked and that’s deserved after watching them,” Montana coach Bobby Hauck said of the Jacks. “We’ve been watching a lot of their win in Bozeman the last couple of weeks so we’ve kind of seen them. We think this’ll be a great game.”The Grizzlies have an explosive offense, led by star running back Eli Gillman and quarterback Keali’i Ah Yat. SDSU saw them both last year. And the Montana defense, while opportunistic, is vulnerable. If the Jacks let the environment get to them or are careless with the ball it could be a long day. But if they’re sharp, they can have success.Mason was brilliant in his return last week, and the Jacks are getting healthier elsewhere, too.Offensive tackle Sam Hagen looks likely to return, as does linebacker Cullen McShane, who was out last week. Linebacker Chase Van Tol is getting closer to a return.Also worth noting? While SDSU has several quality wins — Sacramento State, Montana State, Youngstown State, North Dakota and New Hampshire — Montana’s 24-23 home win over North Dakota on Sept. 13 is their only win over a playoff team this year.The Jacks are 1.5-point underdogs, but they’re going in with more confidence than they’ve had since it was still warm outside.”Whether the crowd is up or down, it’s literally gonna be a process-oriented deal throughout the game,” Jackson said. “And I loved how our players handled that in week two at Montana State. We got a punt blocked, they score a touchdown. You felt them get infused with life. And I think it’s human nature to think, OK, here we go. Well, that’s what 95% of people in the stadium feel. But the 5% that is our players that are actually on the field, they can’t feel that way. And our staff. And so they showed me that they could do it then and battle back and actually lose a lead and come back and get it and win it in overtime.”FCS playoffsSecond RoundSDSU (9-4) at Montana (11-1)Saturday, 1 p.m.Washington-Grizzly Stadium, Missoula, Mont.ESPN+