Two years ago - after starting off with a 55-0 loss at UM - they ended up 6-4, the program's first winning season in 20 years.
Last season they absorbed a pair of losses to Football Championship Subdivision teams on the way to a 7-4 mark that included a win over the Dixie State in the 21st annual Dixie Rotary Bowl.
Rifilato takes the good with the bad.
“They were awesome to us last time,” he said. “They beat the hell out of us, but everybody was nice to us.”
Last season the Skyhawks got to their first postseason game by virtue of a loss, 28-25 to Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference foe New Mexico Highlands.
The Dixie Rotary Bowl, formerly recognized as the junior college football national championship, switched to a Division II format when Dixie State (from St. George, Utah) moved up from the JC ranks.
The new bowl contract gave the Rebels a game against the top-seeded program left out of the 24-team Division II playoff bracket. That was Fort Lewis, ranked sixth in its region.
“It was neat,” said Rifilato, whose Skyhawks beat the Rebels, 24-14. “But it would've been nicer to go to the NCAA playoffs, if we didn't screw it up. We're a long ways away from being anything yet.”
The problem is not all Division II programs are created equal, and Fort Lewis has eight in-state scholarships to divvy up. The limit in Division II is 43 rides. Most of the schools in the FCS have 63.
Now that Fort Lewis has to replace the likes of four-year starting quarterback Matt Gutierrez, things could get rough.
“The last two years we lost a lot,” Rifilato noted. “Gutierrez was a really good player for us. He's not the Matt Gutierrez over at Idaho State (now with the New England Patriots), but he was good.
“We lost (safety) Reed Duvall, too. Wish he was back. I'd be a lot better coach.”
Rifilato is trying to mix and fill. Seniors Sam Powell (5-10, 195) and James Davis (5-9, 200), corners a year ago, are moving to safety. The quarterback battle is between 220-pound juniors Tom Stoffel, who is 6-2, and Dave Nieman, who stands 6-4.
Stoffel is the “experienced” one, having thrown for all of one yard in 2006.
“He's probably the No. 1 guy now just because he knows the offense a little better,” Rifilato said. “They won't play every other play, but they'll trade series somewhere down the line.”
Up front are 6-3, 272-pound senior Adrian Ybarra and 6-1, 290-pound junior Aaron Cooper. The receiving crew is led by speedy 160-pounder Brandon Cummings, a senior, and 170-pound Ryan Ames, who also handles the Skyhawks' place-kicking duties.
At running back Dion Myers will get more carries in the absence of Justin Matherson, a breakaway threat who gained 934 yards a year ago.
“Dion's not that way,” Rifilato said with a chuckle. “If he breaks loose, you'll catch him.”
Defensively, ends Nick Becker and Kiakoa Kinoshita, both juniors, combined for 48 tackles and four sacks. Powell and Davis combined for 40 stops. Junior Brady Haynes is the top returning tackler with 39 stops a year ago at weakside linebacker.
They'll lead the Skyhawks onto a bus Thursday evening for a 15-hour trip, arriving in Missoula at roughly 10 a.m. Friday.
“Then hopefully we'll get to bed and kind of rest up,” Rifilato said. “Then we'll get up Saturday morning, play some football, and get back on the road.”
Rifilato, a former linebacker for the Idaho Vandals in 1983-84, is very mindful of what awaits.
“I wish we were playing the Montana team from 2005,” he said at one point. “This (Grizzly) team is 10 times more talented.
“It's just a great thing, what they have done. Montana's kind of in that same class of what Boise State is doing.”
The Skyhawks are trying for the same at Division II. It won't be easy. They head back on the road to play Nebraska-Kearney Sept. 15, and there's a game at Weber State on Nov. 10.
But perhaps on the horizon is Division II playoff glory, and what Rifilato hopes is more aid for his athletes.
“We don't have a lot of scholarships or anything,” he said Tuesday. “That's why we play you guys.”
Click here to listen to Wednesday's Big Sky Conference coaches press conference starting with Idaho State coach John Zamberlin.
Up Next: Montana vs. Fort Lewis
Saturday, 1:05 p.m. (MST), Washington-Grizzly Stadium (23,183, SpinTurf).
The Skyhawks revisit Missoula, where they absorbed a 55-0 setback in 2005 on the way to Division II respectability.
Location: Durango, Colo.
Enrollment: 3,907.
Series history: Montana leads 1-0.
Man in charge: Ed Rifilato (California Coast '98) is 17-14 heading into his fourth season at Fort Lewis, and 24-18 overall.
Ones to watch:
85 Brandon Cummings (5-10, 160, sr., Lakewood, Colo.): The receiver is one of the few leaders back on offense for the Skyhawks, after catching 39 passes for 698 yards and 6 touchdowns in 2006.
20 Dion Myers (5-11, 188, sr., Long Beach, Calif.): Myers was third on the team in rushing last year, but averaged 5.1 yards for his 63 carries. He scored three TDs rushing and another one receiving.
57 Nick Becker (6-0, 215, jr., Thornton, Colo.): Undersized for a defensive end, Becker still managed three sacks a year ago, to go with 34 tackles.
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