POCATELLO - It's a good thing that ties are no longer allowed in college football. Because of the overtime rule, someone has to win when Idaho State (0-5) visits Northern Colorado (0-4) this afternoon (1:30 p.m., Altitude).

The Bengals have won the last six meetings between the two schools, but as head coach John Zamberlin noted, this UNC team ais better than its predecessors.

"They're a much improved team," said Zamberlin. "They've got a transfer quarterback from Florida, I believe, who can throw the football. He's got a good arm and they've played well in their games only to come up short in the end."

The Bears have lost their last three games by a total of 10 points.

Against Northern Arizona, UNC had a potential game-tying extra point blocked and returned for a 2-point score as NAU won 25-22.

Last Saturday, UC-Davis scored a touchdown on a Hail Mary on the final play to win 34-30.

Bears head coach Scott Downing and his players are frustrated, embarrassed and angry and would love to take it out on the Bengals today.

Meanwhile ISU has its own issues. A nine-game losing streak dating back to last season isn't sitting well with anybody and the injury situation is becoming critical.

Against Montana State, defensive tackle Josh Crittenden tore his ACL and is done for the year. As many as six defensive starters could be out of the lineup this week. Zamberlin tried to make light of the injuries somewhat by saying that they've complicated the travel plans because he doesn't know what names to turn in for the trip. But the reality is that with so many players out, especially on defense, ISU may have a hard time stopping the Bears on their home field.

Zamberlin though knows only one way to get through the losing.

"It's easy to start believing what people are saying about you, but when you're dealing with adversity you've got to learn to believe in yourself and each other. And the way you're going to get through it is to keep working hard and to get some people back up and on the field."

When: 1:30 p.m. TV:Altitude (Channel 681 DirecTV, Ch. 410). Radio:930 AM <$t$h100z12f"ArialMT">