The Train Bell Trophy is staying in Pocatello as Bengals best Wildcats

POCATELLO — The Grant Duff-led Idaho State Bengal defense came up one fourth-quarter field goal shy of shutting out Duff’s former team, the Weber State Wildcats, Saturday at the ICCU Dome.

The result was still what Duff, head coach Cody Hawkins and the entire university were after, however: a Bengal victory to retain the Train Bell Trophy.

With their 31-3 win, ISU (5-6, 4-3) claimed back-to-back wins over the Wildcats (3-8, 1-6) for the first time since 1983-84, and three straight wins for the first time since 2018.

ISU outclassed Weber State from the onset, taking their opening possession 75 yards in just over two minutes and grabbing an immediate 7-0 lead on a Jordan Cooke two-yard touchdown run.

The Wildcats held it there for the remainder of the opening quarter, before Cooke led another long scoring drive to start the second. Their fourth possession did not get off to a promising start, though, as the Bengals were called for a holding penalty on a first-and-10 play from their own 20-yard line. But Cooke didn’t take long to dig out of that whole, giving Michael Shulikov the opportunity to make his latest highlight play.

The 6-foot-6 receiver climbed the ladder to snatch a high throw, before breaking a tackle and sprinting for another 25 yards on what ended up being a 52-yard pick-up.

I WANNA BE LIKE MIKE🤩#RoarBengalsRoar // #SCTop10 pic.twitter.com/uQB1Qo57d3

— Idaho State Football (@BengalGridiron) November 15, 2025

Five plays later, ISU was right back in the endzone on a Dason Brooks three-yard touchdown run.

Brooks did not continue what had been a three-game streak of 100-plus rushing yards, finishing with 35 yards on nine carries. But the Bengals didn’t need more from its star running back, with Cooke posting what may have been his best game of the season.

The junior signal-caller completed 24 of 39 passes for 363 yards and two touchdowns. He added another score on 65 rushing yards — finishing with 428 yards of total offense and three scores.

For all the offense, though, Duff’s defense was the star of the show. The Bengals held Weber State to 227 yards of total offense, with the lone points surrendered coming on a 25-yard field goal with just over 10 minutes left in the game.

ISU was 11th in the Big Sky Conference — out of 12 teams — in points allowed a season ago, when they gave up 37.8 per contest. After Saturday’s victory, the Bengals are fifth in the conference, surrendering just 28.3 points per game.

The Bengals sacked Weber State quarterback Dijon Jennings three times, increasing their season total to 27 on the season — second-most in the conference to Sacramento State’s 37. ISU finished the season with just 20 sacks last year.

Where they have shown their greatest improvement has been in stopping the run. The Bengals allowed 251.7 yards per game and a conference-worst 38 rushing touchdowns last year. This year, they have trimmed that down to 190.2 yards per game and 24 scores.

The Bengals will look to win another rivalry game next week, when they finish their 2025 season against the Idaho Vandals (4-6, 2-4) in Moscow. Possession of the Potato State Trophy will be in the balance, but ISU will also be out for its first six-win season since 2018.