OGDEN — It's make-or-break time for Ron McBride and the Wildcats.

With potentially the biggest crowd in school history planning to pack into Stewart Stadium on Saturday for a 5:30 p.m. kickoff against Western State, fans will expect winning results in the long-awaited debut of the former Utah coach.

Preparations for the event include the addition of 600 end zone seats.

The capacity of the stadium, not including the end zone bleachers, is 17,500. WSU school officials hope to break a record set in 1973 when 17,312 attended a game against Utah State.

Western State players and coaches may wonder if they are in the right place. The last time the Mountaineers came to Ogden in 2003, roughly 6,500 fans cheered the 'Cats onto victory.

With more than 10,000 extra fans this time, McBride is excited for the chance to show the hometown crowd what the new Wildcats can do.

"What I want to do is put a real good football team on the field that everybody is going to enjoy watching," McBride said. "Hopefully the people here at Weber are going to say 'Hey, man, we got a real nice program and we're going to get nothing but better.' "

History is also in Weber State's favor. The 'Cats have defeated the Mountaineers 10 times in a row. Since 1962, WSU has beaten Western State five out of the last six times in opening games. But the Mountaineers (0-1) will not be in a good mood come game time.

Western State is coming off a disappointing loss where it dominated Angelo State in every statistical category but still managed to somehow lose the game 26-7. The Mountaineers had 424 total yards offense and 28 first downs compared to their opponents' 194 and eight first downs, but mistakes and turnovers turned the tide for Angelo State.

"Offensively they are very good. If they hadn't turned the ball over, they would have won the game," McBride said. "Teams traditionally improve the most between their first and second game. We'll have our hands full."

Unfortunately the Wildcats will be playing without the services of senior running back Sione Havili. The 6-foot-3, 260-pound Texas Tech transfer suffered a stroke last Monday in practice and is now unable to see clearly out of his left eye. It is undetermined how long he may be out with the strange injury.

Besides Havili, McBride said everyone is healthy and should be on the sidelines come Saturday. "Right now we're as close to full strength as we can be," McBride said.