It didn’t take it long to come up in conversation these days that Montana’s remarkable comeback against Weber State Wednesday night wasn’t the first such occurrence in recent memory.

Just ask the South Dakota State football team.

If you’re old and memory challenged like me, the Griz gridders were down 48-21 late in the third quarter of that playoff game and roared back to win 61-48.

It was in large part the Marc Mariani show.

Jump ahead about 3 1/2 months to Ogden, Utah, where the Grizzly basketball team trailed by as many as 22 points, and by 20 at the half, before they came back to win 66-65.

It was in major part the Anthony Johnson show as he outscored Weber State 34-25 himself in the final 20 minutes.

Neither game was for the faint of heart if you’re a Griz fan. But what a treat to have witnessed both of these remarkable comebacks, either live or in person.

Both are great examples of why you play the entire game and don’t call it quits just because a team is “too far behind.”

One thing that would be just about as interesting is an NCAA tourney match-up between Montana and Villanova. Especially the Grizzlies are sent to Spokane for the first round.

- Bill Schwanke