Another thing about McBride that hasn't changed is that he's still a players' coach.

"Coach Mac talked to my mom the first day, and it was a done deal — that's where I was going," Eteuati said. "He's just a great coach. The thing about Coach Mac is he loves his players. I enjoy playing for him a lot."

Before Weber State begins its quest for the Big Sky championship, it will wrap up its nonleague schedule at Utah. It will be just the second time McBride has stepped inside Rice-Eccles since he was fired by the school in 2002. The only other time he was at Utah since then was when he attended a Utah-BYU game there "a couple of years ago."

"I'm looking forward to it," McBride said. "It will be good to be back in the stadium. But I'm more worried about the opening game than I am about Utah at this point. Utah is a long way down the line. I'll worry about it the week we play. It's good for Weber. I don't know if it's good for Utah, but it's good for Weber to be able to play in a game like that."

Big Sky preseason polls

Coaches poll
Team (First-place votes) Points
1. Montana (7) 63

2. E. Washington (1) 52
3. Northern Arizona (1) 50
4. Montana State 40
5. Weber State 38
6. Portland State 30
7. Sacramento State 27
8. Idaho State 15
9. Northern Colorado 9

Media poll
1. Montana (23) 361
2. E. Washington (19) 350
3. Montana State 254
4. Northern Arizona (1) 248
5. Weber State 229
6. Portland State 194
7. Idaho State 124
8. Sacramento State 113
9. Northern Colorado 65

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