FRISCO, Texas This is the way it always had to be.If Montana State is to win its fourth national football championship this iteration potentially in the Football Championship Subdivision after previously winning an NAIA title in 1956, an NCAA Division II championship in 1976 and NCAA Division I-AA crown in 1984 the Bobcats must beat archnemesis and FCS powerhouse North Dakota State.And doing so is the only way MSU can or should climb atop the FCS mountaintop. Defeating any other team for the title wouldve felt at least somewhat hollow.During NDSUs run of FCS dominance that includes nine championships since 2011, the Bobcats have seldom been more than a gnat on the Bisons back, often easily swatted away most recently by the massive paw of 6-foot-8 Hunter Poncius, who blocked the Bobcats overtime point-after attempt in the teams game in the second round of last year's playoffs.The Bison have dominated the Cats in recent history, ending MSU's season four times since 2018. Only one of those games, last years overtime thriller inside Bobcat Stadium, was particularly close.NDSU won the previous three by 42, 28 and 28 points, the first two in Fargo and the other in the 2021 national championship here at Toyota Stadium.But these Bobcats seemingly have more bite. Theyve already supplanted rival Montana as the big brother in the Treasure State perhaps not yet in the annals of history but certainly in sustained recent success. MSU owns a 6-2 advantage in the head-to-head series over the past nine years, in-state recruiting dominance, major facilities upgrades and booming enrollment to go along with boisterous booster support apparently accompanied by the matching financial backing.The Bobcats left no doubt in winning the outright Big Sky Conference championship. They were rarely threatened during the conference season, with only Eastern Washington and UC Davis competing with MSU into the fourth quarter.And theyre undefeated with Montana-made stars, headlined by Butte-born and Bobcat-built Tommy Mellott at quarterback, who was crowned the best offensive player in the FCS when he was bestowed the Walter Payton Award on Saturday. Treasure State natives can be found up and down the roster, from sixth-year senior Rylan Ortt to redshirt freshman Adam Jones both standouts from over the hill in Missoula.The biggest difference in this years Montana State squad and those teams NDSU handled in the 2018, 2019 and 2021 playoffs, though, is on the offensive and defensive lines. The onus, then, is on these Bobcats led by arguably the best offensive lineman in the FCS in Marcus Wehr to prove they can go toe-to-toe with their Missouri Valley foe.North Dakota State has had a clear advantage in the trenches, bringing the bigger, twitchier, stronger players many of NFL caliber into previous matchups. For Mondays championship, the Bison will again have All-Americans at both tackle positions in Grey Zabel and Mason Miller.Wehr and all-conference line mates Conner Moore and Titan Fleischmann have anchored a Bobcat front that has produced the No. 1 rushing offense, No. 1 total offense and No. 1 scoring offense in the nation.None of that will matter if Montana State again comes up short against the Bison. The Bobcats must beat North Dakota State, and specifically North Dakota State, to win the championship and take their place among the elite.Their progress and achievements wont be delegitimized if they dont. Theyll still be one of the handful of programs expected to compete at this level year after year, one of three or four teams with championship aspirations.But if not now, when?