After originally saying it would not televise Montana and Montana State's second-round playoff games this weekend, ESPN said Tuesday it will make the games available through its GamePlan subscription service.

All eight Football Championship Subdivision playoff games this weekend will now be offered through the service, ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz said.

Viewers will have to pay a suggested retail price of $24.60 that includes all the weekend's games or find a bar where the service is available. The actual price may vary depending on the cable or satellite distributor, Krulewitz said.

ESPN owns the broadcast rights to the Football Championship Subdivision playoff games, and had planned to carry Saturday's New Hampshire-Montana State game and Central Arkansas-Montana game on ESPN3.com, an Internet-only feed.

The blackout created an outcry among fans who demanded the network broadcast the games or sell the rights to another station. U.S. Sens. Jon Tester and Max Baucus and U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg sent letters to ESPN officials asking the network to reconsider.

Krulewitz acknowledged the strong response and said the network believed offering the games through the subscription service was an appropriate solution.

"We certainly heard from some sports fans," he said. "We can understand and appreciate and respect the unrivaled passion of sports fans."

Tester and Baucus announced the change on Tuesday, saying they secured the commitment from the network.

"ESPN made the right call for Montana, and I appreciate them listening to the thousands of fans who rallied in support of Montana football," Tester said in a statement.

Montana hosts Central Arkansas with kickoff scheduled for 11 a.m. PST Saturday. Kickoff for the New Hampshire-Montana State game is at noon in Bozeman.

Sumlin deflects questions about future: Houston coach Kevin Sumlin deflected questions about his future, saying he's had several conversations with Athletic Director Mack Rhoades about a contract extension.

Sumlin is a hot commodity after guiding Houston to unprecedented heights in four seasons.

The seventh-ranked Cougars (12-0, 8-0) can finish the program's first undefeated season and likely land its first Bowl Championship Series berth with a victory in Saturday's Conference USA championship game at home against No. 24 Southern Miss (10-2, 6-2).

Sumlin's current contract pays him a base salary of between $1 million and $1.2 million and runs through the 2015 season.

Fired Neuheisel preps team: When the raw emotion from UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel's firing began to settle in Westwood, the Bruins realized they've still got one or two games to play this season.

With disappointment and determination, UCLA went back to work just a few hours after Neuheisel was canned by athletic director Dan Guerrero on Monday. Neuheisel joined the Bruins again on the practice field late that night, preparing to coach UCLA (6-6, 5-4 Pac-12) in Friday's conference title game at Oregon.

Several Bruins acknowledged being in a fog after Neuheisel's dismissal, but the coach insists his team will be ready to play at Autzen Stadium.

"This isn't about me, and I'm not to be a distraction," Neuheisel said. "They'll all go on. Some will look at it as a fresh start, but they'll all be fine."