We’re previewing key games and storylines each week during the college football season. Our FCS coverage is the home of the Top 25 media poll, FCS National Awards and much more.
The 2026 FCS football season is off to a flying start, and it’s about to get even better.
Conference schedules are set to take off, with some races already changed from just a handful of games.
Overall, 44 conference games were played from Week 0 through 3. In Week 4, there are 34 more on the schedule, with Montana traveling to UC Davis in the marquee matchup.
Through the remainder of the regular season and the championship races, the big conference games across 13 FCS leagues will start to feel limitless.
FCS Football Week 4 Preview & Predictions
FCS Game of the Week: Montana at UC Davis
To catch two-time defending champion Montana State in the Big Sky title race, this is a must-have win for No. 5 Montana and No. 10 UC Davis – each 3-1 overall and 1-0 in conference. Both teams feature a standout running back – UM’s Eli Gillman and UCD’s Jordan Fisher – but their defenses are surrendering too many passing yards – UCD ranks 112th out of 128 FCS teams and UM is 115th – so quarterbacks Keali’I Ah Yat (UM) and Treynor Cleeland (UCD) will try to exploit that even more.
The Stats Perform FCS Game of the Week comes right out of the Big Sky Conference and the Top 10: No. 5 Montana (3-1, 1-0) at No. 10 UC Davis (3-1, 1-0)Kendra Sheehan previews the Week 4 showdown. pic.twitter.com/CRZQLbU5u8
— Opta FCS Football (@OptaAnalystFCS) September 22, 2026The visiting Grizzlies lead the all-time series 9-2 and are 5-0 in matchups at UC Davis.
Second-and-10
1. On a roll once again, second-ranked South Dakota State is dealing with an injury suffered by No. 1 QB Chase Mason for the second consecutive season. Last year, it was a foot injury; this year, it’s a knee injury – the length of absence not yet known. Josh Holst (3 for 8, 16 yards) basically managed the offense in the second half of their MVFC-opening win over Youngstown State after Mason was knocked from the game. The Jacks will look to get Holst, a Northern Illinois transfer, settled into a flow against Ohio Valley Conference member Eastern Illinois on Saturday because it’s only the conference schedule afterward.
2. In addition to Montana at UC Davis, the Big Sky has another Top 25 matchup in No. 1 Montana State (4-0) hosting No. 18 Northern Arizona (3-1), with each seeking to go to 2-0 in the league. The defending national champion Bobcats want a much-better performance than their 35-30 escape against Central Connecticut State. Coach Brent Vigen kept the post-game talk positive, centered on how he felt his team handled adversity and had a fight to it.
FCS Longest Active Winning StreaksOverall18 – Montana St12 – South Carolina St7 – Idaho St4 – Dayton, Illinois St, Lehigh, Stephen F. Austin, Tarleton StHome16 – Rhode Island12 – South Carolina St11 – Montana StRoad11 – Illinois St8 – Lehigh6 – Montana St
— Opta FCS Football (@OptaAnalystFCS) September 20, 20263. In Week 4’s other ranked-vs.-ranked matchup, No. 8 South Dakota (3-1) goes for its 100th win as an FCS program (since 2008) at No. 11 Youngstown State (2-2, 0-1). It’s one of many top QB matchups in the MVFC this season: USD redshirt freshman Austyn Modrzewski leads the FCS in touchdown passes (14) and YSU’s Walter Payton Award winner Beau Brungard is No. 1 in total touchdowns (16).
4. The subpar nonconference results of the Pioneer Football League took a turn with five wins against FCS opponents last week, including San Diego (Cal Poly) and St. Thomas (St. Thomas) beating Big Sky squads. Conveniently, those two teams will face off in Week 4 in St. Paul, Minnesota, as the wide-open league race begins. Drake (0-3), the three-time defending champion, is the lone winless team as it heads to Davidson. Dayton (3-0) is the only non-Ivy League team (just one game each) in the FCS yet to trail in a game this season.
5. One conference that entered the season with as many title contenders as the PFL is the SoCon, but it’s now prove-it time for everyone. Mercer, which has won two straight outright championships, is already looking up in the standings following a loss to Furman. Chattanooga (2-2, 1-0) has a different outlook after it smashed Wofford, but it heads to an up-and-down Citadel squad that won going away against the Mocs last season. Western Carolina (2-2) at ETSU (2-2) feels like a title eliminator, although it’s not given the potential of most SoCon teams being able to knock each other off. The team to beat is No. 12 Tennessee Tech (3-0), whose resume to date is looking stronger by the week.
6. Ah, check that on the PFL and SoCon. The CAA Football race has opened up considerably after Stony Brook ended defending champion Rhode Island’s 11-game conference winning streak. A good half-dozen teams should feel strong about their title chance. With Rhody QB Devin Ferrell, the CAA’s preseason offensive player of the year, sidelined following offseason foot surgery, the Rams are not nearly the same team as last season’s champs. Monmouth has the jump on the race with a 2-0 start in conference, while No. 22 Campbell, now holding the first national ranking in program history, may have the breakout quarterback of the season, and perhaps the favorite for top CAA honors, in Kamden Sixkiller.
7. None of the first four teams outside the Top 25 has an FCS loss, and this week, one of them, Colgate (3-1, 2-0), takes its big shot to move inside the crowded poll when it visits No. 23 Villanova (2-2, 1-1) in an important Patriot League matchup. Among non-Ivy League teams, only South Carolina State has allowed fewer points per game than Colgate (11.0), whose linebacker duo of Christian Magliacano and Trooper Price has been dominating. Of course, this also is a statement game for Villanova given its struggles following last season’s national semifinal-round appearance.
8. Gone are the days of Eastern Washington’s 15 straight winning seasons as that run has been followed by four consecutive losing seasons – and a fifth would mark the first time that’s happened since 1987-91. At 1-3, the Eagles would need to win five of their final eight games to finish .500. That may not be out of the question given QB Nate Bell is playing well. A winning season, though, would require coach Aaron Best’s team to beat at least one of the Big Sky’s three Top 10 teams (Montana State, Montana and UC Davis). This week, EWU hosts Cal Poly.
9. The highlight of a heavy SWAC conference schedule is defending champion Prairie View A&M (1-3) versus Grambling State (2-1, 0-0) at the State Fair Classic in Dallas. PV’s lone win is a rout of Texas Southern – last year’s West Division runner-up – so a victory over the G Men would put the Panthers in the driver’s seat to get back to the SWAC title game, perhaps as the host school this time. They’ve beaten Grambling in seven of the last eight meetings.
10. Six FCS wins over the FBS is a solid number this season, but the winnable games for the FCS are dwindling, as 13 of the remaining 24 matchups are against Power-Four opponents (the last of those wins occurred in 2023). Among 13 matchups in Week 4 is battle of the acronyms: LIU (FCS) travels to FIU (FBS), with the Sharks (0-4 but coming off a close loss to Villanova) seeking to join Tarleton State with an FBS win in back-to-back years (LIU defeated Eastern Michigan). UIW (2-1) will face Texas State, whose fourth-year coach, G.J. Kinne, led the Cardinals to the Southland title and an FCS semifinal appearance in 2022.
FCS Football Week 4 – Top 25 Schedule
All games ET and on Saturday unless noted; Predicted winner in boldface
Last Week’s Record: 18-2 (.900); Season Record: 71-15 (.826)
No. 1 Montana State (4-0, 1-0 Big Sky): vs. No. 18 Northern Arizona (3-1, 1-0), 10:30 p.m. (ESPN2) No. 2 South Dakota State (3-1, 1-0 MVFC): vs. Eastern Illinois (1-3), 7 p.m. (Midco Sports/ESPN+) No. 3 Illinois State (4-0): at Northern Iowa (1-2, 0-1), 5 p.m. (ESPN+) No. 4 Tarleton State (4-0): No game No. 5 Montana (3-1, 1-0 Big Sky): at No. 10 UC Davis (3-1, 1-0), 10 p.m. (KMAX/Scripps/ESPN+) No. 6 Lehigh (4-0, 3-0 Patriot): at Penn (1-0), 1 p.m. (ESPN+/NBCSN Philadelphia) No. 7 North Dakota (3-1): at Indiana State (2-2), 1 p.m. (ESPN+) No. 8 South Dakota (3-1): at No. 11 Youngstown State (2-2, 0-1), 2 p.m. (ESPN+) No. 9 Stephen F. Austin (4-0, 2-0 Southland): vs. Northeastern State (3-1), 6 p.m. (ESPN+) No. 10 UC Davis (3-1, 1-0 Big Sky): vs. No. 5 Montana (3-1, 1-0), 10 p.m. (KMAX/Scripps/ESPN+) No. 11 Youngstown State (2-2, 0-1 MVFC): vs. No. 8 South Dakota (3-1, 0-0), 2 p.m. (ESPN+) No. 12 Tennessee Tech (3-0, 1-0 Southern): at Wofford (2-2, 1-1), 1:30 p.m. (ESPN+) No. 13 Austin Peay (3-1, 1-0 UAC): vs. UT Martin (1-3), 2 p.m. (ESPN+) No. 14 Idaho State (3-0, 0-0 Big Sky): at Southern Utah (1-3, 0-1), 8 p.m. (ESPN+) No. 15 Lamar (2-1, 0-0 Southland): at Nicholls (2-2, 1-0), 4 p.m. (ESPN+) No. 16 South Carolina State (4-0): at Bethune-Cookman (2-1), 7 p.m. (HBCU GO) No. 17 Yale (1-0): at Cornell (0-1), 1 p.m. (ESPN+) No. 18 Northern Arizona (3-1, 1-0 Big Sky): at No. 1 Montana State (4-0, 1-0), 10:30 p.m. (ESPN2) No. 19 Rhode Island (2-2, 1-1 CAA): at North Carolina A&T (0-4, 0-1), 4 p.m. (FloSports) No. 20 West Florida (2-1, 1-1 UAC): at Southeast Missouri (2-2), 7 p.m. (ESPN+) No. 21 Harvard (1-0): vs. Brown (1-0), 7 p.m. Friday (ESPN2) No. 22 Campbell (3-1, 1-0 CAA): at Hampton (1-3. 0-1), 6 p.m. (MNMT M2/FloSports); No. 23 Villanova (2-2, 1-1 Patriot): vs. Colgate (3-1, 2-0), 2 p.m. (ESPN+) No. 24 Southern Illinois (2-2): at Murray State (1-3), 7 p.m. (ESPN+) No. 25 Mercer (2-2, 0-1 Southern): at Abilene Christian (1-3), 8 p.m. (ESPN+)For more FCS football coverage, follow at X, Facebook, Instagram and Bluesky.
FCS Football Week 4 Preview & Predictions: In Conference Play, It Really Gets Serious Opta Analyst.
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