Photo Credit: Steve Brenner Joe Ma'aseia is one of 17 seniors on the Viking squad.

Portland State football will recognize 17 seniors on Saturday when hosts Montana State in the final home game of the season at PGE Park. Kickoff is 1:05 p.m. The game, which airs live on 800 AM KPDQ, can be seen on tape delay on Comcast Sports Net (channel 37) in the Portland area at 4:30 and 11:30 p.m. on Saturday.

The Vikings will try to snap three losing streaks as they have lost four straight at home, three straight overall and three straight to the Bobcats going into the game.

PSU needs to win its final two games of the year if it hopes to match last season’s records of 4-7 overall and 3-5 in the Big Sky Conference. PSU is currently 2-7 on the season, 1-5 in the Big Sky.

PSU’s four-game home losing streak is its longest since 1981. PSU has not lost five straight at home since 1959. The Vikings are 1-4 at home overall this year.

Montana State comes off a 41-10 win over Idaho State last week. With a 5-3 record (3-2 in the Big Sky) the Bobcats still have a realistic chance at the NCAA I FCS post-season. They will need to win out - which would include a season-ending win over second-ranked Montana - to do so.

Montana State is 2-2 on the road this year.

The Vikings will wrap up the season at Idaho State on Nov. 14.

STORYLINE
Portland State will try to turn around the series trend, having dropped three in a row and six of the last seven to Montana State... PSU is 4-2 against Montana State in Big Sky games at PGE Park... the other trend the Vikings would like to stop is scoring - despite scoring 66 points in the last two meetings, the Vikings have given up 99 points and 1,067 yards to the Bobcats... PSU has also commited eight turnovers in those games... MSU won the last meeting in PGE Park, 50-36, in 2007. PSU took a 15-14 lead in the fourth quarter before the game was blown open with 57 points and eight final-period touchdowns. MSU scored 36 points in the fourth quarter to the Vikings’ 21... Montana State leads the Big Sky series 7-6 and the all-time series 14-9.

LAST YEAR: MONTANA STATE 49, PORTLAND STATE 32
Montana State rambled for 369 yards on the ground and 489 overall in winning its third straight in the series, 49-32, last year in Bozeman. Demetrius Crawford had 187 yards rushing and two touchdowns.  Aaron Mason added 77 more on just 10 carries. PSU trailed just 21-17 at halftime, but the Bobcats scored twice early in the third period and the Vikings could not catch up. PSU totaled only 247 yards of offense in the game. There were a total of seven turnovers in a wild game that included an interception return for touchdown, a kickoff return for touchdown and a fumble recovery in the endzone for touchdown.

GAME WEEK ACTIVITIES
VIKING MEDIA: All Portland State football games can be heard on 800 AM KPDQ and www.kpdq-am.com.The Viking Pregame Show begins one hour prior to kickoff each week... Live streaming video of all Portland State home and Big Sky Conference games can be seen free at www.BigSkyTV.org. Live stats for Portland State home games are at www.GoViks.com.
TICKETS: Tickets for all home games can be purchased in prices ranging from $14 to $35, with youth prices as low as $5. Groups of 15 or more get special admission prices. To purchase tickets by phone, call 1.888.VIK.TIKS or 503.725.3307. Tickets are on sale at the PSU Ticket Office, located in Smith Memorial Student Union, 1825 SW Broadway. You can also purchase tickets on-line at www.GoViks.com or at all TicketMaster outlets. 
THE COORS LIGHT BLOCK PARTY: For all home games, Portland State’s pregame Coors Light Block Party takes place on SW Morrison Street between 20th and 21st avenues. The Coors Light Block Party begins at 11 a.m.

FACTS, FIGURES AND CURIOSITIES
WOODS RETURNS TO THE RECORD BOOKS: SR WR Aaron Woods set three Portland State kick return records and tied a fourth in one game (Oct. 24 vs. UC Davis), and extended all his records last Saturday against Eastern Washington. Woods broke his own marks for returns in a season (45, previous 35) and yards (1,096, previous 908). Woods also broke Orshawante Bryant’s career record for kick return yards (2,004, Bryant 1,806). With 80 total returns in his career, Woods now owns that record as well. Woods ranks eighth all-time in all-purpose yards at Portland State (3,596).

WHAT BROWN CAN DO FOR YOU: FR K Zach Brown is turning in one of the best kicking seasons in Portland State history. With two more field goals against Eastern Washington last week, Brown has now tied the school record 15 field goals in a season, set by Danny Urrego in 2008. Urrego needed 23 attempts while Brown got it done with 22 attempts. Three of Brown’s seven misses have been from 52 yards or more... Brown’s streak of nine straight field goals made ended last week with first-half misses from 53 and 52 yards (both wide right)... he leads the Big Sky Conference and ranks third in the nation in field goals made per game (1.67)... further, in the 63-year history of Portland State football, there have been seven field goals of 50 yards or longer. Brown has two of those kicks. The school record is a 55-yarder by Pat Moore against Eastern Washington in 1975... this season, Brown is 15-22 on field goals, 16-16 on extra points and averages 65.4 yards on kickoffs... Brown has twice been named Big Sky Conference Special Teams Player of the Week (Sept. 14, Oct. 12)... with 15 field goals, Brown already ranks 10th all-time for a career in Portland State history.

LONGEST FIELD GOALS IN PORTLAND STATE HISTORY (50+ yards)
1.    55    Pat Moore, 1975 at Eastern Washington
2.    53    Mike Erickson, 1986 at California Lutheran
3.     52    Zach Brown, 2009 vs. Southern Oregon
    52    Mike Erickson, 1987 vs. Cal State Northridge
    52    John Kincheloe, 1979 at Weber State
6.    50    John Kincheloe, 1980 vs. Weber State
    50    Zach Brown, 2009 at Northern Colorado

MOST FIELD GOALS MADE IN A SEASON AT PORTLAND STATE
    15/22    Zach Brown    2009
    15/23    Danny Urrego    2008
    14/19    Dan Frantz    1999
    14/21    Eric Azorr    2006
    14/22    Mike Cajal-Willis    2002
    13/17    Mike Cajal-Willis    2001
    11/15    Mike Erickson    1985
    11/16    John Kincheloe    1979
    11/20    Mike Erickson    1987

RAU IN THE MIDDLE: SO ILB Ryan Rau is having a big year for the Vikings as he has a team-leading 57 tackles. He also leads with nine tackles for loss and four sacks... his biggest play of the season came against UC Davis when he scooped up a fumble (forced by SR OLB Ryan Pedersen) and rambled 27 yards for a touchdown that gave Portland State a 28-17 third-period lead.

PEGLEG’S TALLY: SR ILB Ryan Pedersen, affectionately known as Pegleg by his team, leads the Vikings in career numbers with 165 tackles, 26 tackles for loss and 11 sacks. He has also started a team-leading 28 straight games.

THE LITTLE “BIG THREE”: With none of them standing taller than 5’8”, the Vikings’ “big three” receivers are little, but have put up big numbers this year. JR WR Ray Fry has team-highs of 53 receptions for 810 yards and three touchdowns to rank among the Big Sky leaders... SR WR Lavonte Kirven has 34 catches for 595 yards and team-bests of four touchdowns and 17.5 yards per catch... SR WR Aaron Woods has 37 catches for 490 yards and three touchdowns this season... those three receivers have 124 of the Vikings 177 team receptions. They have 1,895 of the 2,402 team receiving yards.

RUN GAME STAYS EFFECTIVE: Portland State ran for more than 100 yards for the fourth week in a row and sixth time this season. That may sound modest, but it is as major improvement over the previous two seasons in a pass-based offense. SO QB Connor Kavanaugh leads the way with 52 carries for 323 yards and three touchdowns. SR FB Bobby McClintock has 65 carries for 281 yards and a touchdown. FR RB Ben Bowen has 52 totes for 189 yards and a score, and FR RB Evans Okotcha has 40 carries for 138 yards.

THE RECORDS: Head Coach Jerry Glanville is 9-22 in his third season at Portland State, 6-9 at home, 3-14 on the road... Glanville is 2-8 against nationally-ranked opponents, 0-3 against NCAA I FBS opponents... PSU is 7-15 in Big Sky games under Glanville... Portland State is 49-56 all-time in Big Sky Conference games, 74-79 since moving to Division I in 1996.

TOUGH TIMES AT HOME: Portland State had a recent stretch of four out of five games at home and, oddly, lost all four home games and won the road game (at Northern Colorado). That makes PSU 1-4 at home this year with this week’s home game still remaining. The last time PSU lost four straight at home was 1981. The last time PSU lost five straight at home was 1959... losing at home had been common among Big Sky Conference teams prior to last Saturday. Big Sky home teams went 5-0 on Oct. 31, but during the previous four weeks were just 5-14.