It's going to be a big game this weekend for both Big Sky football programs taking the field.

The University of Northern Colorado (2-4, 1-2 Big Sky) will travel to California for its Saturday evening matchup against No. 12 UC Davis (5-1, 2-1 Big Sky).

UNC could really use a quality win after two straight blowout losses. It's possible, too. Even if the team doesn't win, it's more likely that the Bears can keep things closer than they did against Montana State and Eastern Washington.

UNC 21 - UC Davis 35

The reality is that Northern Colorado is experiencing major growing pains and wins aren't going to come easily, especially not in the Big Sky — one of the top conferences in the FCS.

But UC Davis is beatable. The Aggies fell to Idaho State, 27-17, last week in Pocatello, and the Bengals are toward the bottom of the league with UNC.

In fact, the Bears' defense is statistically better than Idaho State's, so they could hold the Aggies.

Unfortunately, things will likely come down to the offense again. It needs to string together a few more drives that actually end in points to be competitive. The Bears don't need a touchdown every trip down the field, but they certainly need to get more than 13 first downs to get in scoring position.

Junior linebacker RJ Potts said the team believes in itself, no matter the opponent.

"We've got confidence going in every game. It's not just because (Idaho State) got the win," Potts said Wednesday. "It's not going to change how we look at it; (we're not going to) look at it any different. When we're going to play any team, we're going to expect to win."

That's easy for a defensive player to say, because the defense has shown it can have OK performances. There's still a lot of room for improvement, of course, but it has been more consistent than the play on the opposite side.

Maybe Northern Colorado will surprise its fans and opponent with both stellar offense and good defense, but recent history doesn't provide a lot of certainty that there will be both.

UC Davis will host UNC at 6 p.m. Saturday with the broadcast appearing on ESPN+.

Predictions for games around the Big Sky

Montana State 28 - Weber State 22
Idaho 21 - Eastern Washington 55
Sacramento State 21 - Montana 38
Southern Utah 15 - Northern Arizona 21
Idaho State 28 - Portland State 25