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Cedar City • Two teams in desperate need of a fresh start get one Saturday night.

Weber State and Southern Utah, winless so far after playing harsh nonconference schedules, open their Big Sky seasons against each other at Eccles Coliseum.

The winner will be rejuvenated after four straight defeats and can look ahead with guarded optimism.

The loser?

Let's put it this way: Neither the Wildcats nor the Thunderbirds want to think about the possibility.

According to Southern Utah coach Ed Lamb, the stakes are impossible to ignore.

"I'm not sure this game could be [bigger]," he said, "even if two undefeated teams were going at it."

Weber State started its season with losses to Arizona State of the Pac 12 and North Dakota State, the No. 1-ranked team in the Football Championship Subdivision.

The Wildcats were competitive in more recent road defeats at Sacramento State (42-31) and Stephen F. Austin (35-20), but turnovers and penalties doomed them.

"The crazy thing is the players see the positives happening," said coach Jay Hill. "They know, right now, the issues we have are self-inflicted. ... It's not like we're going out there and getting cremated. It's not like they're blowing us off the ball."

Southern Utah's schedule has been even more demanding. The Thunderbirds have lost to Nevada (28-19) and Fresno State (56-16) of the Mountain West Conference, in addition to ninth-ranked South Dakota State (26-6) and 11th-ranked Southeastern Louisiana (41-14).

"Those losses hurt and we can't manufacture that away," Lamb said. "... [But] if we can maintain some confidence in each other and confidence in the way we do things, we have a chance to get better."

The Weber-SUU game features two starting quarterbacks who transferred from BYU.

Weber State's Billy Green, a sophomore, has already thrown for over 1,000 yards. In the loss to Stephen F. Austin, he completed 30 of 49 passes for 273 yards and three touchdowns.

Southern Utah's Ammon Olsen, a junior, replaced Aaron Cantu as the starter last week at Fresno State. He threw for 314 yards and two touchdowns but also suffered an interception that was returned for the Bulldogs' first score.

"At this point," Lamb said, "we are committed to Ammon."

Beyond the fact both teams need a victory to get their seasons on track, a major story-line to the game involves the coaching staffs.

After Jody Sears was fired last year at Weber State, Lamb was one of the coaches school officials initially contacted about the job. Lamb stayed at Southern Utah and received a contract extension through 2020.

When Weber hired Hill, however, three members of Lamb's former staff joined him in Ogden. The group includes offensive coordinator Steve Clark, defensive coordinator Justin Ena and receivers coach Fesi Sitake. —

Weber State at Southern Utah

O At Eccles Coliseum

Kickoff • 6 p.m.

Radio • 590 AM, 1430 AM

Records • Weber State 0-4; Southern Utah 0-4

Series • Weber State leads, 7-5

Last meeting • Southern Utah, 27-21 (2013)