One is the model of consistency, a perennial fixture in the Playoff scene. The other has more national championships this decade than any other program, Bowl or Championship Subdivision.

And come Saturday in Missoula, Mont., Appalachian State and Montana face with more than bragging rights on the line. The winner earns a berth in the 2009 National Championship game.

Both the Mountaineers and Grizzlies have made themselves postseason regulars -- in fact, UM hasn't missed a share of the Big Sky Conference title since 1997 or a playoff since 1992. So it may come as a surprise that the last time these two met in the Playoffs, Bill Clinton was finishing his second presidential term.

"The past four or five years, they've been on top. So we're looking forward to getting them in our house," said Montana linebacker Tyler Hobbs.

The overall No. 1 seed Grizzlies are after their second straight trip to the title game, the program's first national championship since 2001, and a milestone no other team in UM's illustrious history has accomplished.

Should UM reach and win the championship game, it would be the first wire-to-wire unbeaten.

Should Saturday's game play out like their last playoff meeting -- also a semifinal -- that national broadcast audience will be in for a wild ride. The Grizzlies won a 19-16 overtime encounter to reach the 2000 championship game.

The key to the 2009 installment of UM-ASU is Armanti Edwards - for the Mountaineers, that means their all-world quarterback doing what he does best, which is essentially everything but catch passes.

For Montana, it means doing what it can to slow the multitalented, 2008 Walter Payton Award winner.

"That guy runs the show," Hobbs said. "We've seen no one like him. He keeps plays going most other quarterbacks can't, and he always gives his receivers the chance to catch the ball."

It's fitting then that ASU reached the semifinals thanks in large part to Edwards, whose touchdown pass in the final 10 seconds last week at Richmond put the Mountaineers over the top against the defending national champions.

The coming weeks are big for Edwards, who is not only chasing another national championship; not simply a finalist for his second Walter Payton Award; but this week, earned his degree after just seven semesters.

"That's what you go to school for, to get that degree," Edwards said in his weekly teleconference. "I take pride in [graduating in three-and-a-half years]. I hate not succeeding in anything I do."

And that mentality has translated to the gridiron, where he's succeeded to win nearly 50 games in his career. Another victory Saturday, and he'll be tied for the winningest postseason quarterback in Div. I history.

Reaching that milestone will have to come against a defense that in the last six quarters has held opponents scoreless. Since falling behind by 27 points in the first round against South Dakota State, Montana outscored SDSU and last week's victim Stephen F. Austin 91-0.

"Their defense plays every snap hard. It's hard nosed, they flock to the ball every play," Edwards said.

UM forced an SFA offense that came into the match-up No. 1 nationally in scoring offense into 10 turnovers.

And the Grizzly offense doesn't slouch, either.

UM is averaging a whopping 56 points per game through two playoff outings. Last week, quarterback Andrew Selle outdueled the Lumberjacks' gunslinger Jeremy Moses by scoring three touchdowns with no giveaways and finishing with 281 yards.

"Everyone is making big plays," Selle said. "Marc [Mariani] and the receivers are making great catches, the line is doing great.

"The defense forcing 10 turnovers makes it real easier, with us playing on a short field."

Selle added that the 91 consecutive points have given the Grizzlies "a lot of momentum," but was quick to point out: "That means nothing against Appalachian State.

"We want to ride that momentum, but our coaches are really big on playing one game at a time."

He said that the implications of Saturday's game are only magnified given the opponent.

"Appalachian State has a lot of tradition and has really been on the national stage with the championships and the win over Michigan," Selle said.

ASU's Sept. 2007 win over then-second ranked Michigan in the Big House remains something of a calling card for the Mountaineer program, and specifically Edwards.

That victory made ASU football a household name, and garnered the Mountaineers votes in the Associated Press Top 25.

For Edwards, it the trek to Ann Arbor was his first trip via airplane. The team will take to the air to reach Missoula for Saturday.

"I still hate it," Edwards said of air travel.