MISSOULA, Mont. – Coach Jack Cosgrove believes part of the responsibility that comes with trying to build his University of Maine program into a perennial national football power is to schedule accordingly.

That helps explain why his 55-man University of Maine travel squad arrived in this picturesque western city Thursday night to prepare for Saturday’s 3:05 p.m. Division I-AA showdown against the University of Montana.

The Black Bears carry a No. 11 national ranking into the highly anticipated season opener against the Grizzlies, who are the No. 3 team in the land.

Montana is among the most highly regarded teams in the country, having advanced to the NCAA playoffs a record 11 straight seasons while winning nine Big Sky Conference titles during that span.

“It’s part of what I think is a necessary part of the growth of Maine football, to go and compete at nationally recognized schools and play New England football games on their turf,” Cosgrove said.

The contest marks the beginning of UMaine’s most challenging schedule ever. It’s one that includes I-AA mainstay Northern Colorado, Division I-A Mississippi State of the Southeastern Conference and top-ranked, defending national champion Delaware – all in the first five weeks of the season.

“If you want to be respected as a great program, you have to go out there and take on more each year,” said sophomore quarterback Ron Whitcomb. “A couple years ago, we were playing teams that couldn’t even step on the field with us.

By nature, the tougher schedule also makes it harder to reach the playoffs. A win over a lower-level I-AA team essentially counts as much as one over the No. 1 team, at least as far as the won-lost record is concerned.

So, for example, if UMaine were to lose four I-AA games this season, even if all were to ranked teams, another team in a good league with a softer schedule that had only three losses would likely advance to postseason at the Bears’ expense.

It wasn’t long ago that virtually every game had the Bears battling against the odds. Now, despite being armed with a full complement of scholarships, more talented student-athletes and lofty expectations for success, nothing is taken for granted.

“To go through that experience every week where it was a major challenge to win just gets in your system and it’s in the program,” Cosgrove said. “We talk about that so that our players have a tremendous respect for the game, for our opponents and for the value of winning.”

If the non-conference schedule weren’t tough enough, UMaine also must negotiate a minefield of top-notch Atlantic 10 teams such as Delaware, Villanova, Massachusetts and Northeastern, all of which open the year ranked in the Top 25.

“We have very high expectations for ourselves and when you have those high expectations, you have to beat good teams,” said UMaine senior tailback Marcus Williams. “You can’t expect to have a cupcake schedule. We’re going to embrace the challenges that are ahead of us.”