The Hornets look towards their first Big Sky conference game against Montana after coming off of a loss to No. 3 Cal Poly 17-10 in a four-quarter battle.

Last season, Montana won 31-14 and finished with 296 yards passing and 185 yards rushing, 155 of which came from running back Lex Hilliard.

Montana will be hosting the game on Saturday that will mark the 12th meeting between the two teams in Division I-AA. The Hornets remain winless against Montana.

A key to Montana’s success has been its third down conversion rate.

“They’re very good both offensively and defensively on 3rd downs,” Coach Steve Mooshagian said.

Montana has been able to convert 14 of their last 34 attempts while holding their opponents to 8 of the last 25 attempts.

First year transfer Marcel Marquez has been working with the team’s first offense this week in practice in preparation for the game after taking over for starting quarterback Crosby Wehr in the Hornets’ third offensive series against Cal Poly.

“We’re incorporating things in the offense that works well with him,” Mooshagian said.

Marquez was 6-17 for 40-yards and was second in rushing for the Hornets with 11 carries for 38 yards. Marquez’s numbers were sub par, but it was his aggressive running style that both excited the fans and concerned his teammates and his coach when he began taking tackles head-on.

“Afterwards my teammates were telling me to either slide or get out of bounds,” Marquez said.

This was not only Marquez’s first game with the team, but also the first time Marquez played with the first team’s offense.

After the game Mooshagian was reluctant to announce Marquez as the starter against Montana, but showed signs of interest.

“I would definitely name the starter after I watch the tape, but I would say based on what I saw I would lean in that direction,” Mooshagian said. “I felt very comfortable with him out there.”

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Matt Beltran can be reached at [email protected]