Carroll College's defensive backs aren't about to get any rest.

One week after the No. 2 Saints scored a 34-27 come-from-behind win against pass-happy Rocky Mountain College, the undefeated Frontier Conference champs head to the University of Montana Western to face another aerial assault that will have their corners scrambling.

The Saints (9-0 overall, 8-0 conference) cemented at least a share of their 10th straight Frontier Conference championship in the win over Rocky, and now have a chance to claim it outright against the Bulldogs (3-5, 3-5).

In order to do that, they'll need to shut down Western sophomore quarterback Michah Mamiya and senior receiver Craigh Cornelius one week after giving up 307 yards passing to Rocky's Kasey Peters.

Western was the first underdog to challenge the Saints this season, tying up the score in the second half of their Sept. 26 game before Dane Broadhead's 22-yard game-winning touchdown pass to Lat Wipplinger. The Saints won 17-10.

"They gave us fits last time," said Saints head coach Mike Van Diest. "And they're a team that probably more than Tech or Rocky, they're going to throw deep."

Often to Cornelius, who ran away with 12 receptions for 129 yards and a touchdown.

The 5-foot-9, 175-pound speedster burned the secondary and drew two interference calls late in the fourth quarter before the Saints finally quashed Western's last drive.

"He's definitely a guy we're going to go to quite a bit during the game," said Bulldogs head coach Rich Ferris.

Cornelius, who holds the school record for receptions, is averaging 7.0 catches for 80.9 yards per game. Deryk Van Zee, meanwhile, averages 4.9 catches for 46.4 points per game and will be remembered for one of the best catches ever in Nelson Stadium, snagging a jump ball right along the sidelines.

Mamiya, meanwhile, is averaging 221.8 yards passing per game and is completing roughly 58 percent of his attempts.

"I think their quarterback has a real nice touch on the ball," Van Diest said. "He's got a very easy, fluent motion."

That will certainly challenge the corners, which will likely see Andrew Lopez starting in place of Pat Regan. Regan has been playing through the pain of a pulled groin and sports hernia, which will require surgery after the season.

"We have to keep improving," Van Diest said. "We're not counting on Pat this weekend. He's hurt and I don't know if he's going to play anymore this year. He's week to week."

With the emphasis on Western's passing game, Ferris hopes to get his top rusher more involved.

"The guy that we've kind of get involved early in the game is Charlie Dotson," Ferris said. "That's not easy to do against Carroll because of what they've got up front."

Western's biggest improvement, and biggest headache for the Saints, has come in the trenches.

The offensive line has been able to lock down opponents, while the defense was able to shut down much of Carroll's top-notch running game to 110 yards, a little less than half their average of 226.1 per game.

"Our kids did a pretty good job trying to hold their gaps," Ferris said. "Carroll's offensive line is really good moving side to side.

"We made some mistakes here or there, but for the most part were pretty good."

Add in senior linebacker Chad Schira's team-leading 80 total tackles, 10 for a loss and four sacks, as well as a standout season by Helena High graduate Curtis Quigley, who is second on the tackles list (45), and the Bulldogs have a very intimidating front seven.

That will make for a challenge against Carroll's running game. Senior Gabe Le has been a consistent battler with 64.1 yards per game while junior John Camino has averaged 75.3 ypg, having missed two this season.

Junior quarterback Gary Wagner adds a scrambling dimension to his play and is looking to improve on a 7-of-14, 101-yard performance. Though he did throw two touchdowns without giving up an interception.

Nearly half of Carroll's receiving yards came on two screen passes to Le for 44 yards while Bubba Bartlett once again led the Saints with four catches for 53 yards and a touchdown. Matt Ritter's single catch went 4 yards for a touchdown.

"Gabe gets his 100 yards, but some of it's on the ground, and some of it on the screens," Van Diest said. "Gabe is the best running back we've ever had at catching the ball and running behind the blockers."

Defensively, the Saints will need big games out of Lopez and Mike Waldenberg at the corners, while a stingy defensive line led by senior end Garrett Thompson's six sacks will have to keep pressure on Mamiya. Junior linebacker Thomas Dolan and sophomore Brian Strobel, meanwhile, lead the defense with 61 and 50 total tackles, respectively.

"Going to Western, they're, I think, the most improved football team in the conference this year," Van Diest said. "We've got the two toughest games still.

"Western is our focus and our players know that Western will at any time score points. We have to position ourselves to win."