PORTLAND, Ore. – Quarterback Clifton McDowell ran for three touchdowns, Eli Gillman added 97 yards rushing and Montana won its sixth straight game with a 34-10 victory over Portland State on Saturday night.
Montana (9-1, 6-1), ranked third in the FCS coaches poll, will host rival and fifth-ranked Montana State (8-2, 6-1) next Saturday for the outright Big Sky Conference title. A win next week would give Montana its first conference title since 2009.
McDowell scored on a 1-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter, and his 20-yarder stretched the Grizzlies’ lead to 21-3 midway through the second. McDowell added an 8-yard TD run to cap a 75-yard drive with 8:29 left in the third. He finished with eight carries for 72 yards and was 9-of-14 passing for 127 yards.
Dante Chachere threw a 64-yard touchdown pass to Jermaine Braddock in the third quarter for Portland State (4-6, 3-4).
Montana put up 489 total yards and held the Vikings to 93 yards rushing and 255 yards overall.