1997 Montana State Bobcats football
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Record	6–5 (5–3 Big Sky)
Head coach	Cliff Hysell (6th season)
Home stadium	Sales Stadium
Seasons ← 1996 1998 →

1997 Big Sky Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 6 E Washington $^	7	–	1	12	–	2
No. 11 Montana ^	6	–	2	8	–	4
Montana State	5	–	3	6	–	5
Northern Arizona	4	–	4	6	–	5
Weber State	4	–	4	6	–	5
Cal State Northridge	4	–	4	4	–	8
Portland State	3	–	5	4	–	7
Idaho State	2	–	6	3	–	8
Sacramento State	1	–	7	1	–	10

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Cal State Northridge record includes two losses by forfeit Rankings from The Sports Network poll

The 1997 Montana State Bobcats football team was an American football team that represented Montana State University in the Big Sky Conference during the 1997 NCAA Division I-AA football season. In their sixth season under head coach Cliff Hysell, the Bobcats compiled a 6–5 record (5–3 against Big Sky opponents) and finished third in the Big Sky.^[1]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 13	No. 20 ^D-II Chadron State*	Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT	W 24–14
September 20	at Southwest Texas State*	Bobcat Stadium San Marcos, TX	L 26–28	19,198	^[2]
September 27	at Idaho State	Holt Arena Pocatello, ID	W 14–13
October 4	No. 20 Eastern Washington	Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT	W 17–7
October 11	at No. 12 Northern Arizona	Walkup Skydome Flagstaff, AZ	L 13–14
October 18	Cal State Northridge	Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT	W 31–20	9,357	^[3]
October 25	at Portland State	Providence Park Portland, OR	L 0–44
November 1	Weber State	Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT	W 28–14
November 8	No. 23 Cal Poly*	Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT	L 19–20
November 15	at Sacramento State	Hornet Stadium Sacramento, CA	W 30–6	2,018
November 22	No. 11 Montana	Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT (rivalry)	L 25–27	13,507
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from The Sports Network Poll released prior to the game

References

^ "Bobcat Record Book" (PDF). Montana State University. 2018. p. 60. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 2, 2021. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
^ "SW Texas wins battle of Bobcats". The Missoulian. Associated Press. September 21, 1997. p. C5 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Fernando Dominguez (October 19, 1997). "Northridge Has Rundown Feeling". The Los Angeles Times (Valley ed.). Los Angeles, California. p. C16. Retrieved June 16, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.

v t e Montana State Bobcats football
Venues	Gatton Field (1930–1971) Van Winkle Stadium (1972) Bobcat Stadium (1973–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Montana
Culture & lore	Spirit of the West Marching Band
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
Seasons	1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906–1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942–1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
National championship seasons in bold