The "big" game of the season awaits the Chadron State College football team on Saturday, when it visits Colorado State-Pueblo. Kickoff for the homecoming tilt will be at 1 p.m.

The game will be televised by Altitude Sports Network and broadcast by Double Q Country.
 
Although the situation changed quite a bit on Saturday when Fort Lewis upset the ThunderWolves 23-22, it remains a game the Eagles probably have to win if they are to continue contending for the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference title and reach the Division II playoffs.
 
The ThunderWolves, who revived their football program in 2008 after a 24-year lapse, have won five straight games over the Eagles, something only Western State achieved from 1991 through '95 since Chadron State joined the conference in 1991.
 
"No one on our team, even the seniors, has ever beaten Pueblo," CSC coach Jay Long said. "They don't like that. It's a big game and a big deal for us. It's really exciting to be playing this game."
 
Colorado Mines, which defeated the Eagles on Sept. 20 in the RMAC opener for both teams, is 4-0 in the conference while CSC and CSU-P are 3-1 and tied for second place along with Colorado Mesa. The Eagles beat Mesa 24-13 on Sept. 27, but none of the remaining three contenders has played one another so far this season.
 
Fort Lewis' win over the ThunderWolves was a shocker. The Skyhawks were just 1-4 overall and 0-3 in the RMAC when they sprung the upset. The loss snapped Pueblo's 42-game regular- season winning streak. Thirty-four of those wins were against conference opponents to establish an RMAC record. The old mark of 28 belonged to the Eagles before the Wolves toppled them 28-17 early in the 2009 season.
 
Since then, Pueblo has beaten the Eagles 33-30 in triple overtime, 38-28, 45-38 in double OT and 51-42 last year. Both overtime games were in Pueblo.
 
The Wolves opened the current season with a bang, knocking off perennial power West Texas A&M 35-6 and Division I-AA Sam Houston State 47-21 in non-conference games. After that, they had to come from behind to defeat Western State 26-23, overwhelmed Western New Mexico 45-7 and needed to score 10 points in the fourth period to edge Adams State 17-7.
 
Then came the 23-22 upset in Durango on Saturday.  The Skyhawks scored the winning touchdown on a 3-yard end-around pass with 3:46 left to play.  Pueblo never reached midfield after fielding the ensuing kickoff. Fort Lewis out-yarded "the Pack," as the team is often called, 410 to 342 yards.
 
Long said he doesn't know how the loss will affect the Thunderwolves, but noted "we'll have to play our best no matter what."
 
Long added, "We'll just have to play our game and do our jobs like we would in any other game. They're fast and athletic."
 
The ThunderWolves, who were ranked No. 2 before being upset and are now 14^th  in the American Football Coaches Association poll, were overwhelming favorites to win their fourth straight conference title during the coaches' balloting  in August. Ten Wolves—six on offense and four on defense--were placed on the preseason all-conference team.
 
No other team had more than four on the all-star unit. CSC had three.
 
The Pueblo leaders include Chris Bonner, a 6-foot-7, 225-pound quarterback who threw for 3,413 yards and 33 touchdowns last season, and Darius Allen, a 6-3, 239-pound defensive end who received the Gene Upshaw Award as the top Division II lineman in the nation and was tabbed the DII Defensive Lineman of the Year last fall.
 
They were voted the conference's Preseason Players of the Year.
 
So far this year, Bonner has completed 105 of 209 passes for 1,310 yards and 11 TDs. The team's leading rusher is Cameron McDondle, a 5-8, 196-pound junior who has carried 125 times for 715 yards and seven TDs. 
 
Defense seems to be the Pack's forte this year. They lead the RMAC in scoring defense, pass defense, total defense and sacks.
 
Last year, the Eagles beat the ThunderWolves in about every phase of the game except on the scoreboard. CSC had 33 first downs compared to 17 for Pueblo, out-yarded the Wolves 704 to 503 and had the ball almost 10 minutes more. However, Pueblo led 28-16 after completing a 70-yard pass with six seconds left before halftime. The Wolves also got a big boost early in the fourth period when Allen returned a fumble 70 yards for a touchdown.
 
CSC narrowed the difference to 38-26 by capping a 76-yard drive about a minute later, but each team scored two more touchdowns in the final 9:22.