The last time SDSU's football team made the playoffs was 1979, when it was a Division II program.

Just shows all you need to do to end a 30-year postseason drought is go D-I.

After an 8-3 regular season, SDSU has earned one of the eight at-large bids for the Division I FCS playoffs; one of 16 teams. Its reward? A road game Saturday at top-seeded and undefeated Montana (11-0).

John Stiegelmeier remembers what they said when SDSU decided to move to Division I.

"A number of people thought we were crazy," he recalls. 

But in only their second year of eligibility, Stiegelmeier's Jacks are in the playoffs.

"It's the population in the locker room that really determines your success, not outside," Stiegelmeier said. "And those guys, last year's guys, the guys before them, and this year's guys, they just stayed the course, and good things happen."

That it's happened so quickly is a testament to SDSU's approach to the transition. In many ways, the Jacks have written the how-to manual.

"People can look at our program and say, South Dakota State does some things right in football," Stiegelmeier said, "and to have this success this early."

And Steigelmeier never doubted that they would.

"I'm a real stubborn German when it comes to that," he said. "I think we can win every football game, and if you think you can do that, you think you've got a chance to be in the playoffs."

Their opponent is in for the 17th year in a row. Montana has a rich tradition and a rabid following, and Stiegelmeier knows just what they're getting into Saturday. The last time SDSU played there, in 2006, it lost 36-7.

"Twenty-four, twenty-five thousand people every game," Stiegelmeier said. "Unbelievably tough environment. And so the home field advantage is defined there."

Stiegelmeier is asking for the same kind of support from South Dakota.

"I'm hoping people rally behind SDSU football," he said. "I think this is good for SDSU, the University, and surely good for our football program. And I think it's good for the state of South Dakota. Because it gets some national recognition and ideally we can go a ways in the playoffs and maybe put this institution and this state on the map a little better."

Stiegelmeier says it's important for his players to realize this is a big moment in the program's history, but not to be star-struck. He says they need to play like they've been there before.

Game time at Washington-Grizzly Stadium in Missoula, Mont., is tentatively set for 12:05 p.m. Mountain Time (1:05 p.m. Central). Tickets will go on sale at 8:30 a.m. Mountain Time (9:30 a.m. Central) Monday at the Montana Ticket Office. Orders for the SDSU section can be made over the phone by calling 1-888-MONTANA. Tickets are $29 per person.