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At 1-4 (1-1 Big Sky) the Northern Arizona football team is close to slipping from any sort of playoff or conference title contention at the midway point of the season.

For several years, and most of Lumberjacks coach Chris Ball’s tenure in the head role, the Lumberjacks have ended their practices by chanting “Big Sky champs� in the final huddle.

A win over Sacramento State, the defending conference champion currently ranked No. 4 in the STATS Perform FCS Top 25, would have helped the team move closer to that goal. But the Lumberjacks fell, 31-30, in a back-and-forth battle in Sacramento on Saturday.

So there’s still a chance to claim the conference title and make a push toward the postseason, but the Lumberjacks likely have to win out to do it. No teams with fewer than seven wins finished in the top 25 in the 2022 season.

Getting to that point is no simple task, given that four of the six remaining games are against ranked opponents. Next up is Weber State, ranked No. 13, Saturday in Ogden, Utah.

“We have one of the toughest schedules in the country. I don’t know if you can get in with six games or not. I think seven would get us in, though six games might be close with our schedule,� Ball said. “We want to win the month of October. We win the month of October and get to .500, we’ve got three games to figure out if we can get in the playoffs or not.�

The Wildcats present a unique challenge to the Lumberjacks, who have struggled defensively at points this season. Northern Arizona held Montana to 14 points in the lone win of the season, but has given up 31 or more in all four of its other contests.

The key against Weber State is simple, in theory, but may prove difficult to pull off.

“When you’re game planning -- you hear me talk about this all the time -- we’ve got to stop the run,� Ball said. “They’re committed to running the football. It just shows, rotating backs and keeping a fresh guy in there.�

Through five games, four Wildcats players have carried the ball at least 25 times. Running back Damon Bankston leads the way with 388 yards and five touchdowns on the ground.

He averages 6.1 yards per carry. Kris Jackson, meanwhile, has put up 204 yards and four touchdowns.

Overall, the Wildcats have rushed for 10 touchdowns this season, while only recording two in the passing game.

Even if the Lumberjacks can’t stop the run, the offense could try to keep up. Northern Arizona has found its footing offensively in the last three games, averaging 31.3 points in that span.

Northern Arizona’s running game has started to flourish recently, too. Through the last three games, running back Devon Starling has averaged 98 yards and a touchdown, including a 117-yard, two-touchdown performance against the Hornets.

Turnovers have cost Northern Arizona at times, but in the last two games the Lumberjacks have cut back on them. The Lumberjacks committed just one turnover in the loss to Sacramento State, with Adam Damante’s interception in the Hornets end zone came with 1:36 left to play and ultimately was one of a few costly mistakes.

“We had a chance to win at the end and didn’t get it done. There were six plays that I felt if we win we’d have won the football game,� Ball said. “We had a good look at it and their guy made a great play, and it cost us the game."

A forgotten part of Northern Arizona’s drive to even get in that scoring position, though, was how the Lumberjacks moved down the field on their final drive. They went 3 for 3 on fourth-down conversion attempts during the final drive. Overall for the game, they were successful on each of their five fourth-down plays.

The Lumberjacks have shown a pattern of aggressive play-calling this season in attempts to keep final drives alive. According to Ball, it’s all based on a book of analytics.

“We’ve done a good job living and dying by it. Sometimes it makes it a little difficult. Some of the distances are a little longer than you want. And I always factor in how well we’re playing defensively,� Ball said. “Our kids know we’re going to be aggressive.�

Despite recent success and a close loss, the Lumberjacks� postseason hopes are hanging on a thread. A win this week would keep those aspirations alive, even just temporarily.

In 2022, Weber State defeated Northern Arizona, 33-31, on a field goal as time expired to end the season at the Walkup Skydome in Flagstaff.

Northern Arizona knows what it’s up against.

“They run the ball, they have a physical front seven, with a very good offensive line. It’s your typical Weber football team,� Ball said. “They’ve been winning recently quite a bit. It’s another ranked road team, and another opportunity for us to show what we’re about.�

Kickoff between the Lumberjacks and Wildcats is set for 5 p.m.