MISSOULA — The No. 9 Montana Grizzlies (2-1) wrap up their non-conference play this weekend and prepare for their second top-25 game of the season.

The next opponent is No. 24 Western Carolina (1-2) of the Southern Conference, a team with high expectations and a prolific offense led by star quarterback Cole Gonzales.

“I think we all enjoy the challenge,” said UM senior linebacker Ryan Tirrell. “He’s got a good crew around him, too. So we’re always up for the task. We’ve just got to take it day by day and make sure we focus on them.”

Gonzales was a Walter Payton Award finalist last year and was named SoCon Offensive Player of the Year after becoming the starting QB, breaking several school records and leading one of the best offenses in the FCS. Western Carolina went 7-4 a year ago and narrowly missed the playoffs after losing its final game of the season, a game in which Gonzales sat out early with an injury.

“He looks like he sees coverage well,” said UM head coach Bobby Hauck. “I think with the experience he has, he sees what’s in front of him. So guys like that are hard to fool.

“You look at their production, they led the nation in total offense a year ago. So I would say that’s the way it is. If you’re productive, people appreciate you.”

Gonzales is one of 10 Catamounts named All-SoCon for the season, as Western Carolina was tipped to finish third in the league in preseason polls.

It’s been an up and down season for Western Carolina so far. They held their ground and led then-ranked North Carolina State into the fourth quarter in the first game of the season before eventually falling to their FBS opponent.

“They played well,” Hauck said. “They were solid in all three phases. I thought they did great things on third down and moved the chains and capitalized on opportunities and made some big stops on defense.”

A disappointing home defeat to Campbell followed after the Catamounts suffered a series of errors, but they bounced back last week to beat Elon away to move back into the top 25.

With a potent offense and a suspect defense that has given up the most yards in the FCS thus far, the Catamounts pose an interesting new challenge for Montana as the Grizzlies look to close out the non-conference strong after their comeback win over Morehead State last week.

“Their team has a chance to win this year, a chance to win their conference, a chance to be a factor in the rankings and things like that,” Hauck said. “So we have a huge challenge on Saturday if they come.”