Montana
FCS Championship: NDSU Spoils Another Historic Montana State Season
On Saturday night, the Montana State football account shared a video of MSU players swarming and celebrating with quarterback Tommy Mellott in the hotel lobby after he returned from winning the Walter Payton Award.
The vibes were immaculate.
The responses and comments to the video were aplenty, talking about how this Bobcat team was different, a truly special squad ready to accomplish greatness in the FCS championship game in two nights, a team of destiny, and some “Cats by 90” type of responses as well.
The video was another moment of things just lining up for MSU to win its first national championship in 40 years. From Mellott’s magical play as everyone’s favorite Montana son, to Brent Vigen not getting swayed by FBS openings, to how MSU had built itself up over the years to finally get to this moment, to finally reach the FCS mountaintop after a multi-season climb that ended in tough tumbles.
If not now, then when?
It was all leading up to a legendary day for the state of Montana.
And then … NDSU happened.
The Bison — an underdog in the spread (+4.5) and most predictions (even from FCS coaches who know what they’re seeing) — beat the Bobcats 35-32 Monday night to win their 10th FCS national championship.
NDSU took a commanding 21-3 lead into halftime. But MSU made a valiant comeback, making it a 21-18 deficit with two straight touchdowns in the third quarter. The Bison made it a 2-score game again, then MSU made it 28-25, then NDSU made it a 2-score game again, and then MSU made it 35-32 with 1:09 to go but couldn’t recover the ensuing onside kick.
It was a fun finish after a jarring first-half domination by the Bison. The FCS title game needed some late-game drama after three straight years of decisive results.
After a two-season “drought,” the Bison have reclaimed their FCS throne, continuing one of the most impressive runs in college football history. The true meaning of a program lives in Fargo.
“A pretty incredible journey started with a group of seniors that decided after a team meeting to get together and just what are we going to do?” NDSU head coach Tim Polasek said after the game. “They chose to stay. And once again, there’s a lot of evidence with our program, we’re running a football program, but those that stayed will be champions.”
Cam Miller was a gamer tonight, as he’s been all season. He completed 19/22 passes for 199 yards and two touchdowns while rushing 18 times for 121 yards and another two scores.
But all eyes were on Montana State entering this game. Was it finally their time? It seemed so, which makes this a crushing loss for MSU. And it was a business-as-usual and an OK-make-room-for-another-trophy win for NDSU.
“We came here with one expectation,” Vigen said postgame. “I know it stings a lot for these guys, for these seniors in particular that have laid such a foundation for our program. They’ve certainly built upon the seniors before them, but the success they’ve had, been through a lot of ups and some downs. Obviously this is a low point. You end up rattling off 15 victories and you can’t finish it off, this is not how we wanted this day to end. But I know the program’s much better for their efforts.”
Polasek is a very likable guy. The players are likable. NDSU fans, while brash and confident online, are some of the nicest humans when you talk to them in person. But NDSU is the villain in the FCS. That’s the reality when you’ve won this many titles. It’s less about you, and more about your success. The Kansas City Chiefs have gone from a likable team to a squad many are sick of. Same thing with Golden State in the 2010s.
And boy did NDSU play the villain part well on Monday.
It was supposed to be a historic day in Montana, a state that loves its football teams like the Frisco area loves its Cowboys. It was supposed to be a movie-like sendoff for several Montana seniors who learned their lessons in past playoff defeats to build themselves into a national championship team. It was supposed to be Mellott’s statue-building performance as one of, if not the most notable players in the state’s history. It was supposed to be a full-circle moment for MSU to finally topple NDSU.
And then … NDSU happened.
Maybe it’s because us FCS followers want new storylines. Something different. Maybe some were trying to wish an MSU win into existence and talk themselves into it being a likelihood. Maybe because this year’s NDSU team isn’t quite on the same level as all-time Bison teams like 2013, 2018, or 2019, we subconsciously think the Bison aren’t as good as they actually are. “This is an all-time Montana State team going up against one of NDSU’s least talented teams” was a common thought. But maybe this NDSU team was also really really good and our memories of the all-time Bison teams deceive how we evaluate more current NDSU rosters. Maybe there’s just something about this NDSU program where it rises up and plays its best in the biggest moment.
And the Bison reminded us who they are once again.
“The standard is the standard, and the expectation is the expectation,” Polasek said.
Every FCS fan base besides, of course, NDSU (and maybe Montana) wanted the Bobcats to win. It was a feel-good moment other fan bases were ready to celebrate. Instead, the Bison told the rest of the FCS, “Remember who we are.” The amount of dirt shoveled on their dynasty was probably enough to make a new road from Fargo to Frisco.
And then … NDSU happened.
It’s the Bison’s FCS once again.
WASHINGTON ― Montana Republican Senate nominee Kurt Alme, who previously served as his state’s U.S. attorney, cut a plea deal in 2020 that allowed a tribal police officer who sexually abused a 6-year-old girl to serve less than a year in prison and avoid being registered as a sex offender.
Alme, who has President Donald Trump’s backing in his bid for Senate, served as Montana’s U.S. attorney in two stints. Trump appointed him both times; Alme served in the role from September 2017 through December 2020, and then again from March 2025 through March 2026.
Alme oversaw the case of Mychal Thomas Damon, who was indicted in June 2019 by a grand jury on one count of abusive sexual contact with an individual under 12, which carries a maximum punishment of a lifetime in prison, a $250,000 fine and no less than five years to a lifetime of supervised release. The average sentence for this crime is less severe, but still significant: 62 months in prison, no fine and 143 months of supervised release, based on an analysis of 2025 data provided by the U.S. Sentencing Commission.
Damon, 28, had admitted he touched the 6-year-old’s genitals. But in February 2020, Alme’s office filed a plea deal in his case that reduced his charge to felony child abuse.
The changes in the plea deal raised the alleged age of the victim from below 12 to below 14, stripped out the language of sexual intent and moved the offense out of the federal sex crime framework, meaning Damon would no longer be required to register as a sex offender. It jointly recommended Damon be sentenced to the time he’d already served of 324 days, and required only a sex offender evaluation. Alme’s name appears on the bottom of the document, along with a signature by his assistant U.S. attorney, Cassady Adams.
In June, Alme filed a sentencing memorandum that described Damon’s conduct, which included details of him touching the child’s vagina with skin-to-skin contact, and the adverse effect it had on her mental health. Local reporting at the time said the victim had told a therapist “Mychal touched me” and hurt her by putting his fingers in her “hoo hoo.”
Ten days later, Alme announced Damon was being sentenced to time served of 324 days and two years of supervised release. As of June 2026, Damon is not listed in the national sex offender registry or in Montana’s Sexual or Violent Offender Registry.
It’s not clear why Alme reduced the charges against Damon as significantly as he did. During part of his tenure as U.S. attorney, his office declined 64% of sexual assault cases. He conceded in a 2019 interview that this “is something that has to be worked on,” and noted that a lot of these cases are declined due to “weak or insufficient evidence.”
Asked what happened in Damon’s case, an Alme campaign spokesman on Thursday lashed out at unnamed Democrats for trying to make him look bad.
“Kurt’s liberal opponents are twisting the facts to manufacture a fake narrative that exploits crimes against women and children,” said Alme’s spokesperson. “Department of Justice policy required defendants to plead to the most serious charge readily provable from the evidence. Kurt strongly supported the Multi-Disciplinary Teams on our Native American reservations, led by his office, to support investigations of crimes against children and to support victims.”
His spokesperson also pushed back on the idea that Alme unreasonably declined a large number of sexual assault cases during his tenure as U.S. attorney.
“Kurt’s office prosecuted every viable sexual abuse felony referred to it and pursued the most serious charge readily provable from the evidence,” the spokesperson said. “Many ‘declined’ cases were to allow more appropriate tribal prosecutions ― they were not dropped. Kurt will bring his years of experience prosecuting criminals and working with the Sexual Assault Response Teams on our Native American reservations to the U.S. Senate to strengthen investigations, support victims, and better protect women and children.”
The campaign pointed HuffPost to a 2010 report by the Government Accountability Office that found the most common reason for U.S. attorney’s offices to decline sexual abuse cases referred in from Indian country was “weak or insufficient admissible evidence.” It also highlighted statements of support for Alme in an October 2025 press release by Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), when he celebrated Alme being confirmed as U.S. attorney.
Alme is currently running for Daines’ Senate seat, and Daines went out of his way to clear the path for him. In a stunning and orchestrated maneuver, the two-term senator in March abruptly withdrew from reelection as Alme filed to run for his seat, minutes before the state’s filing period closed. Daines’ last-minute change-up was an effort to block potential Democrats or any major Republican challenger from jumping into an open Senate race.
Alme is taking on Democrat Alani Bankhead and independent candidate Seth Bodnar in the November election. Bankhead and Bodner have been duking it out for weeks, with each appealing to different factions of the Democratic party and calling on the other to drop out.
Bankhead, a retired Air Force officer, unexpectedly won the Democratic primary earlier this month, boosted by grassroots supporters and more than $2.5 million in outside money from a progressive veterans’ PAC. But Bodnar, a former University of Montana president who did not appear on the primary ballot, has bipartisan endorsements from prominent establishment figures, including former Democratic Sen. Jon Tester and former Republican Gov. Marc Racicot. He’s also significantly outraised Bankhead and Alme.
This Senate seat is rated “solid Republican” by the nonpartisan Cook’s Political Report, meaning Alme is well-positioned to win the general election. But this race would be more competitive if Bodner and Alme were going head to head, without Bankhead in the running.
Where Khloe Kardashian Stands With Ex French Montana More Than 10 Years After Breakup
French Montana is done keeping up with reality TV.
In fact, he only agreed to appear on Keeping Up With The Kardashians and Kourtney & Khloé Take the Hamptons over a decade ago as a favor to then-girlfriend Khloe Kardashian.
“She said to get on the show,” he exclusively told E! News at the BET Awards on June 28. “And I got on the show. Shout out to Khloe.”
The “Ever Since U Left Me” rapper, who split with Kardashian in December 2014 after eight months of dating, said the experience was “fun” because her family kept it real.
“They filmed their real life,” he continued. “And we were part of something together that one time. So it felt great. It didn’t feel like work because they film what they do everyday.”
As for his future in reality TV, the 41-year-old said those days are over, shutting down any prospective offers with a simple, “Negative.”
Although the “Unforgettable” artist—whose real name is Karim Kharbouch—may not be returning to television anytime soon, he has no problem hanging out with his ex-girlfriend these days.
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