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Eastern Washington trailed Weber State for all of 28 seconds on Saturday during a 38-16 win that secured second place in the Big Sky Conference and an 8-3 finish to the regular season.

Then the Eagles had to sweat out almost 24 tense hours before they found out if they would cap their remarkable turnaround season with an appearance in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.

In the end it was worth the wait, with EWU securing one of eight at-large bids to the postseason, where the Eagles will face McNeese State.

“I was hoping it was just a formality,” said head coach Paul Wulff in a release from the school. “I clearly thought we were one of the better teams in the country. I think the way we played this season proved that. I am very excited for our team, especially the seniors, to have the opportunity to compete for a national championship.”

The victory over Weber came by way of continued excellence from sophomore quarterback Matt Nichols, who passed for 256 yards and four touchdowns and ran for another 103 yards.

Nichols, who was named the Big Sky Conference's offensive player of the year on Monday, took less than 30 seconds to get EWU back on top after Wildcats quarterback Cameron Higgins found Tim Toone with a 40-yard pass that put Weber ahead 16-14 with 7:55 to play in the third quarter.

Following a 51-yard kickoff return by Tony Davis, Nichols hit Aaron Boyce with a 21-yard pass and then fired a 22-yard touchdown to Brynsen Brown that put the Eagles up for good.

They went on to score 17 unanswered points.

After a freshman season when Eastern went 3-8 and missed the postseason, Nichols has completed 63 percent of his passes for 3,125 yards, 30 touchdowns, just six interceptions and a passing efficiency rating of 161.4, fifth best in FCS.

“A year ago, it was really difficult on our program,” said Wulff, who was named a finalist for the Eddie Robinson award this season. “It was nice to work hard and work ourselves back into what we believe we are - and that's a national caliber football team.”

The Eagles return to the postseason after back-to-back appearances in 2004-05, taking on the second-seeded Cowboys, who won the Southland Conference and are one of three 11-0 teams in the bracket.

Eastern Washington won four in a row to close the regular season, and nearly defeated Montana during their Oct. 6 trip to Missoula, which would've given the Eagles six wins in seven games and the Big Sky crown.

EWU's only other losses of the year came against Portland State and to Division I FBS foe Brigham Young on Oct. 20.

This year marks the sixth playoff appearance in the Eagles' history. Prior to '04, they had not made the postseason since 1997. Wulff took over the program in 2000.

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