SAINT LOUIS – The second weekend of FCS play sees nine PFL teams in action for the second consecutive week with San Diego making its season debut while Dayton and Valparaiso take the week off. 

The league's nine-game slate is highlighted by five games against FCS Top 25 teams and four against FCS Top 10 teams. Butler takes on the week's toughest task, traveling to face No. 1 Montana State in Bozeman. Across the divide, Drake will face No. 3 Montana in Missoula. San Diego's season opener brings No. 6 UC Davis to Torero Stadium. Elsewhere, St. Thomas heads west to face No. 8 North Dakota while Presbyterian meets No. 15 Mercer a year after delivering a major upset to start the 2025 season. 

This Week's Schedule

THURSDAY, SEPT. 3	Kickoff	Series	Streak	Last Meeting
Kentucky Christian at Morehead State	6 PM	MSU, 7-0	MSU, W7	Morehead St. def. Ky. Christian, 45-28 (9/20/2025)
FRIDAY, SEPT. 4
Franklin Pierce at Marist	7 PM	1st Meeting
SATURDAY, SEPT. 5
Webber Int'l at Stetson	11 AM	SU, 2-1	WIU, W1	Webber Int'l def. Stetson, 31-21 (8/30/2025)
Drake at #3/3 Montana	3 PM	MSU, 1-0	MSU, W1	Montana def. Drake, 48-16 (9/8/2018)
St. Thomas at #9/8 North Dakota	4 PM	1st Meeting
Presbyterian at #15/19 Mercer	6 PM	MU, 2-1	PC, W1	Presbyterian def. Mercer, 15-10 (8/30/25)
Elon at Davidson	6 PM	EC, 17-3	EC, W4	Elon def. Davidson, 55-7 (9/6/2025)
Butler at #1/1 Montana State	8:30 PM	1st Meeting
#6/7 UC Davis at San Diego	10 PM	UCD, 9-1	UCD, W7	UC Davis def. San Diego, 43-13 (9/17/2022)

PFL Notes

• The PFL picked up five wins in Week 0 action, which included Presbyterian head coach Matt Rahl winning his coaching debut. Butler, Dayton, St. Thomas, and Valparaiso also picked up wins. PFL teams went 5-3 at home and 0-2 on the road during the season's opening weekend.
• The PFL welcomes two new head coaches in 2026: Drake's Matt Walker and Presbyterian's Matt Rahl. The league has seen 9 of its 11 head coaches join the league in the past three seasons. St. Thomas head coach Glenn Caruso becomes the dean of PFL head coaches as he begins his sixth PFL season and 17th at St. Thomas. Dayton head coach Trevor Andrews starts his fourth season as Dayton's head coach, making him the league's second-longest tenured head coach. 
• San Diego is the PFL preseason favorite by a narrow margin in the league's preseason coaches' poll. The Toreros received five first-place votes and 90 points in the poll. Drake was picked second with five first-place votes and 88 points. St. Thomas earned the third-place note with 87 points, as the only team to earn a spot in the Top 3 on all 10 possible ballots. 
• Dayton, which was picked fourth in the league's preseason coaches' poll, had the PFL's representatives on the Walter Payton and Buck Buchanan Award Preseason Watch Lists, presented by Stats Perform. All-purpose back Gavin Lochow and defensive lineman Mirko Jaksic, both returning First Team All-Pioneer Football League selections, earned the preseason recognition. 
• Lochow and Jaksic are two of just seven returning First Team All-PFL selections. The other five returning first teamers are San Diego running back Adam Criter, St. Thomas fullback Luke Schuler, Butler offensive lineman Charles Mackley, San Diego offensive lineman Maicah Talavou, and San Diego punter Emiliano Salazar.
• Salazar, the reigning PFL Special Teams Player of the Year, was one of 14 selections to the 2026 FCS Punter of the Year Watch List and one of 15 FCS placekickers named to the 18th annual Fred Mitchell Award Watch List. 
• Last season, there were 10 PFL alumni on NFL rosters, with seven on active 53-man rosters and three listed on reserve, injured, or practice rosters. Additionally, PFL alumni were featured on the rosters of the Canadian Football League and the United Football League during their respective 2025 seasons.

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