Saturday August 29th in Hillsboro. Time tbd.

The Vikings return to 2026 play after a 1-10 2025 campaign that included only one win @ Cal Poly. In a year filled with bumps and bruises, Portland State gave up 40 or more points in 7 games last season, which included a game in Provo @ BYU.

Last time Davis visited the Vikings, it was a controversial nail biting finish with Tompkins scoring the game winning TD...even after review, Ags won it 27-26. That 2024 win gave UC Davis a 5 game winning streak en route to 9 straight then on to a Quarterfinals appearance in Plough's first season.

First game of the year is always a crapshoot - but at this point for the team and Plough - in Year 3 with eyes firmly set on the prize of a FCS National Championship, they really need to go out and dominate the game. Expecting Portland State to be nothing but improved in 2026. Coach Barnum was fired in the offseason - now Chris Fisk has the reins...and he no doubt worked to overhaul the roster. Fisk comes from west coast DII power Central Washington, a familiar foe for Davis. The Wildcats, located in Ellensburg, Washington, were playoff contenders in each of the last three seasons with Fisk as the Head Coach. Wildcats won 10 games last season, and were a perfect 9-0 in the Lone Star Conference, but lost in the first round of the DII Playoffs. CW also lost in the first round in 2024 but were in the Quarterfinals in 2023. Fisk was born in Pocatello, ID and has a background in offensive coordination and offensive line coaching, so he's an offensive minded Head Coach. The Wildcats ran the ball 2 times for every time they threw it, so sounds like an OL/RB centric, run-first offense.