SAINT LOUIS – The race for the 34th Pioneer Football League championship begins Saturday with eight of the league's 11 members on the field. A matchup between two title contenders highlights opening weekend as preseason favorite San Diego travels to meet St. Thomas, picked third in the coaches' preseason poll. Both teams are coming off quality wins against Big Sky foes last week, with the Toreros winning on the road at Cal Poly while St. Thomas took care of Southern Utah at home. 

Elsewhere in Week 4 action, three-time defending champion Drake returns after its bye week and gets its first win of 2026 when it travels to Davidson, which picked off Southern Conference member VMI last week. Presbyterian continues a three-game road trip as it heads north to meet a rested Marist squad that is also coming off its bye week.  

The Hoosier Helmet Trophy game between Butler and Valparaiso caps the PFL's opening weekend. It's the 86th meeting all-time between the Bulldogs and Beacons and the 22nd time they will vie for the Hoosier Helmet Trophy, which was established in 2006 between the two in-state foes. Butler has claimed the trophy 14 times in the previous 21 meetings. .

This Week's Schedule

SATURDAY, SEPT. 26	Kickoff	Series	Streak	Last Meeting
Presbyterian at Marist	12 PM	MU, 3-2	PC, W2	Presbyterian def. Marist, 29-25 (11/22/2025)
Drake at Davidson	1 PM	DU, 10-3	DU, W1	Drake def. Davidson, 45-0 (10/18/2025)
San Diego at St. Thomas	2 PM	UST, 3-2	USD, W1	San Diego def. St. Thomas 30-27 (9/27/2025)
Butler at Valparaiso	2 PM	BU, 55-30	BU, W4	Butler def. Valparaiso, 27-20 (11/22/2025)

PFL Notes

• The PFL impressed in its final full weekend of nonconference play, picking up five key FCS wins. San Diego and St. Thomas downed a pair of Big Sky Conference opponents (Cal Poly and Southern Utah, respectively), Dayton upset a United Athletic Conference foe (Eastern Kentucky), Davidson rallied to upend a Southern Conference member (VMI), and Butler picked off an FCS independent (Chicago State).
• Butler University senior quarterback Reagan Andrew, Marist University graduate student and offensive lineman Will Aaronson, and Valparaiso University redshirt quarterback Rowa Keefe represent the Pioneer Football League as two of a record 206 semifinalists for the 2026 William V. Campbell Trophy®, presented by the National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Football Hall of Fame. 
• 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, 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. Drake was picked second with five first-place votes and 88 points. St. Thomas earned the third-place nod 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.