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Ogden • By its very nature, with former players on the sideline, Ron McBride's final home game of his football coaching career brought with it an emotional subtext, heightened by Weber State's scrambling last-second victory.
Now, the journey comes to its conclusion with McBride's last game, 2 p.m. Saturday at No. 25 Portland State. It promises bring the same emotions.
"More so because of last game," WSU quarterback Mike Hoke said.
The Wildcats (4-6, 4-3 Big Sky) are coming off a dramatic 34-31 win over Northern Arizona last Saturday. Portland State (7-3, 5-2) has won four straight games.
A win would match Portland State's best regular-season record ever. The Vikings are 4-1 at home this season.
Portland State leads the Big Sky in rushing offense, averaging 260.6 yards.
Meanwhile, Weber State may have found a new weapon in junior C.J. Tuckett, who had a record-setting day in Saturday's win with 407 all-purpose yards. He was honored as the Big Sky Co-Offensive Player of the Week.
The Malta, Idaho, native came into the NAU game with 197 total rushing yards. In a driving snow, Tuckett rushed for 254 yards on 27 carries and scored three touchdowns. The 254 yards is tied for the fifth most rushing yards in school history. He had touchdown runs of 16, 45, and 1 yards.
"He's a downhill runner. We went with the hot hand," said McBride, 72, retiring after seven seasons as head coach at Weber State. His career included 13 years as the head coach at Utah.
McBride is 42-38 at Weber State, including 33-21 in Big Sky Conference games. Overall, McBride holds an all-time record of 130-101. "You know how much you love the game, how important it is to you," McBride said. "[You know] how important the guys are who play it, how important victories are and how disheartening defeats are."
Retirement, however, does not mean sitting back in an easy chair.
"[Age] doesn't mean anything," he said. "It's a matter of what you think in your head. I don't want any of that stuff ... no retirement communities. That stuff does not appeal to me at all."
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Weber State at Portland State
P At JELD-WEN Field, Portland, Ore.
Kickoff • 2:05 p.m.
TV • None
Radio • 1280 AM
Records • WSU 4-6, 4-3 Big Sky, PSU 7-3, 5-2
All-time series • WSU 19-12
Last meeting • WSU 44-41 (Oct. 23, 2010)