MISSOULA, Mt. – The FCS playoff season is finally here, and while Montana won’t have the home-field advantage in the postseason that they had last year, the Grizzlies are guaranteed a first-round game this year.

After a Week 12 loss to Montana State, the Grizzlies’ hopes of securing a first-round bye faded. Montana received the 14th seed in the FCS draft show and was paired with Tennessee State in a first round playoff matchup.

Tennessee State and Montana have never played a game together, but there is a lot of familiarity between the two sidelines.

Brandon Fisher, the son of former NFL head coach Jeff Fisher, is the Tigers’ defensive coordinator. Brandon Fisher spent his playing days as a linebacker for the Grizzlies from 2005 to 2009, during coach Bobby Hauck’s first tenure at Montana.

During this period, the Grizzlies played two FCS championship games.

“Obviously Brandon Fisher is the defensive coordinator, he played for us here. So it’s a team that we haven’t played against yet, with which we have no overlap, but we know a lot about them because of their personality,” Hauck said.

Tennessee State’s head coach will also be familiar to an older generation of football fans. After winning a Heisman at Ohio State, Eddie George spent the next eight years making it in the NFL with the Houston/Tennessee Oilers/Titans and one year with the Dallas Cowboys, making four Pro Bowls along the way.

George has now been the Tigers’ head coach since 2021. This season, he led the Tigers to their first share of the Big South Conference title since 1999.

Another thing these two teams have in common is their focus on special teams. That year, Junior Bergen became the Big Sky’s all-time punt return touchdown leader.

Tennessee State has already returned two kicks this season. In the kicking game, the Tigers haven’t missed a single field goal all year. Kicker James Lowry is 10-10 on his field goal attempts this year, while he is 39-41 on his extra point attempts.

The Tigers are also a pass-happy team. Quarterback Draylen Ellis has thrown for over 2,700 yards, with 21 touchdowns and 7 interceptions.

Montana’s defense has certainly struggled with the deep ball this year, and this game could pose another challenge for their up-and-down pass defense.

The Tigers also defend the pass well. In 2024, they have given up less than 200 passing yards per game and given up 17 passing touchdowns. Their rushing defense is more middle of the pack, so Montana will likely lean on their two-headed running game of Nick Ostmo and Eli Gillman to start, even though they haven’t had success in the running game over the last month.

Despite a season of ups and downs, Montana enters the playoffs with a refreshed mentality – 1-0 every week and one game at a time.

If Montana beats Tennessee State, the Grizzlies will travel to South Dakota State, which beat Montana in the FCS championship last season.

However, the Grizzlies find motivation in another Dakota school that Montana disbanded last year when they held the Grizzlies’ current position.

“You just have to focus on one game each week. NDSU did that last year. “They were a game or two away from making it to the Natty with the exact same record, so hopefully we can bounce back and get 1-0 every week,” Montana senior safety Jaxon Lee said.

Kickoff is scheduled for 8:15 p.m. at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.