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Park City

Alex Kuresa remembers the feeling of leading the Portland State Vikings during a touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter of a tie game at Washington State, then agonizing as the defense made a fourth-down stop at midfield to complete the upset and celebrating afterward with his wife in the stands.

In between, he knelt after taking the last snap, handed the football to the referee and almost needed confirmation about what just happened: "The game's over, right?"

Sure enough, the Vikings had knocked off a Pac-12 team that would win nine of its next 12 games after the season-opening loss in Pullman.

So while I often question the value of FCS teams taking on Pac-12 schools for money's sake, just enough competitive examples exist to make these meetings worthwhile. Scores such as "Utah 70, Weber State 7" in 2013 and "Arizona 77, Northern Arizona 13" last season provide material for the opposing case about the merits of the Utes' opening the 2016 schedule vs. Southern Utah and booking the Big Sky Conference's North Dakota, Idaho State and Weber State (twice) in the coming years.

The Pac-12's USC and UCLA never have played an FCS opponent and presumably never will. The Big Ten's new policy bars FCS teams, and that makes considerable sense.

But then along comes the occasional result like the one Kuresa helped the Vikings deliver last September in his first Division I quarterbacking opportunity, having come to Portland State from Mountain Crest High School via BYU and Snow College. In a tandem QB system, Kuresa topped the Cougars' Luke Falk, a Logan product who would become one of the country's best passers.

"We fully felt like we could play with those guys," Kuresa said Monday, during the annual Big Sky Football Kickoff. "It was really about trying to humanize that team and not picture them as a Pac-12 team … bring it down to earth, where we didn't see them as Goliath."

It worked. And when the Vikings took the ball at their 31-yard line with about five minutes remaining, Kuresa recalls "a lot of smiles in the huddle, like, 'We got this.'"

They really did have it, driving steadily with Kuresa reeling off runs of 17 and 13 yards and taking the lead. PSU's defense then made a fourth-down stop at midfield. "You see so many teams that are underdogs get to that position and end up taking a moral victory," said Kuresa, admiring his teammates' finishing power. "That feeling is irreplaceable, but I'm hoping we can feel it a couple more times."

The Vikings' next chance to do something extraordinary comes Sept. 17 at Washington, one of six contests pairing the Big Sky and the Pac-12 in 2016. Idaho State is biting off two of those games, although the Bengals are facing Colorado and Oregon State, picked last in their divisions. Southern Utah (which also visits BYU) is taking on Utah for the first time in a season opener Sept. 1.

"Everyone's excited. … Our team loves a challenge," said punter Tate Lewis, from Fremont High. "That's kind of been our culture over the years; we like playing against the big schools, because it really shows us where we are and where we need to be."

The Thunderbirds opened the 2015 schedule at Utah State, where the 6-foot-6 Lewis — who hopes to become the tallest punter in NFL history — got a lot of work. He punted 15 times (for a 44.1-yard average), partly due to the SUU defense's repeatedly giving the ball back to its offense. But his last kick was returned for an 88-yard touchdown, giving the Aggies a 12-9 win.

Weber State will open its season in Logan, after losing 26-7 at Oregon State last September. Wildcat linebacker Tre'von Johnson, from Hunter High, cites "the environment" as the major difference in the Pac-12. "It's not like a big gap between the players," he said. "We saw we could compete with a Pac-12 school, and that gave us confidence going into the season."

Four of the past five years, a Big Sky team has knocked off a Pac-12 school. Sacramento State beat Oregon State in 2011 and Colorado in 2012, Eastern Washington topped Oregon State in 2013 (when the Beavers finished 7-6) and Portland State beat Washington State in 2015, when the Cougars went 9-4. Other teams have made respectable efforts, at least in spots.

"You can hang with 'em, but not for very long," said BYU assistant coach Steve Clark, a former offensive coordinator at Southern Utah and Weber State. "It's exciting, though. You have nothing to lose."

And you might even win, as Kuresa and Portland State did in Pullman.

Twitter: @tribkurt —

Big Sky vs. Pac-12

2015 results

Oregon State 26, Weber State 7

Portland State 24, Washington State 17

Oregon 61, Eastern Washington 42

Washington 49, Sacramento State 0

Arizona State 35, Cal Poly 21

Arizona 77, Northern Arizona 13

2016 schedule

Sept. 1 • Southern Utah at Utah

Sept. 3 • Eastern Washington at Washington State, Northern Arizona at Arizona State, UC Davis at Oregon

Sept. 10 • Idaho State at Colorado

Sept. 17 • Idaho State at Oregon State, Portland State at Washington

Utah's future Big Sky opponents

2017 • North Dakota

2018 • Weber State

2019 • Idaho State

2021 • Weber State