OGDEN — The multitude of hard work and invigorating changes Weber State head coach Jay Hill has implemented in his first two seasons seems to be taking effect and finally paying off.
Following a three-season disaster, during which Weber State won just six of its 35 games, only three of which came on the road and only five in-conference, the Wildcats have continued to prove this season will be the end to what was an arduous, though now stabilized, tailspin.
After having the mental toughness to bounce back from a demoralizing 44-0 home loss to SUU with a historic 24-21 OT upset at No. 12 Montana last week, Weber State's long-awaited and reinvigorating rise back into competition and contention is in full force heading into Saturday's Big Sky battle against North Dakota (4-2, 2-1).
With both team's offenses struggling so far this season, both ranking in the bottom three in the Big Sky in scoring offense and total offense, it could come down to a battle of defenses.
The 'Cats defense is fresh off another dominant performance last week in which it came up with one interception, hauled in by BSC Defensive Player of the a Week Cordero Dixon, and recovered a fumble.
Weber State got after and pressured the QB to tally a season-high five sacks and added nine tackles for loss in addition to coming up with two stops on fourth down.
LB Tre'Von Johnson stuffed the state sheet with a season-high 13 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, one sack and forced the game-clinching fumble.
Meanwhile, WSU quarterback Jadrian Clark, who had been sharing a bit of the workload with true freshman QB Justin Shaw, took the reins last week and had another off game.
Clark completed 8 of 15 pass attempts, one of which was a 15-yard strike to Cameron Livingston, for 54 of his team's dismal 92 yards to facilitate the offense in the win while Shaw didn't see any action after a four-interception game.
Despite its offensive struggles, North Dakota is one of, if not the best, defensive teams in the conference and will give Clark and Weber State offense all it can handle.
The visitors rank in the top-two in the conference in nearly every defensive category and the home team will need to pick apart the weak spots and holes and make smart plays to stay in control.
UND is completely dominant up front and ranks second in the nation and first in the Big Sky in rushing defense, giving up just 66.5 yards per game, second in the conference in total defense at 331.7 yards per game and No. 2 in sacks with 17. Its 23.8 points per game scoring defense is good for fourth in the BSC.
WSU running back Erik Wilkes, who is on a roll and has tallied over 100 yards in two of the last three games, continues to run over opponents and came up big against Montana with 112 yards rushing and one touchdown.
The sophomore speedster has averaged 62.2 ypg this season, compared to UND RB John Santiago's impressive 99.5 YPG, and is in store for his largest challenge this season against a physically punishing defense, anchored by Will Ratelle and Deion Harris.
The two teams are set to get underway at 6 p.m. at Stewart Stadium.
Ryan Love is a full-time student and has been a part-time sportswriter for Deseret News since Oct. 2012.
Follow him on Twitter @RLove7724
EMAIL: rlove@deseretnews.com