MISSOULA — The Little Brown Stein is staying put. 

Keali’i Ah Yat threw for one touchdown and ran for one, Eli Gillman and Michael Wortham scored two TDs each and No. 4 Montana beat Idaho 41-30 in a top-10 Big Sky Conference battle Saturday. 

The second-biggest crowd in Washington-Grizzly Stadium history, 27,025, and an ESPN2 audience watched Gilman hit a career-high in carries with 27, for 142 yards. 

The junior had as many as 20 carries just once before at UM despite back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons. He had scoring runs of 2 yards in the first quarter and 6 yards in the third.  

The latter made it 31-14 and answered an 86-yard drive by Idaho that cut further into what was a 24-6 Grizzlies lead. The No. 8-ranked Vandals and Griz (4-0 overall, 1-0 in the Big Sky) would trade two more touchdowns — Joshua Wood scrambled in from 4 yards early in the fourth quarter for Idaho, and Ah Yat answered with a 1-yard plunge with 7:49 left — before UM forced an Idaho turnover. 

It came at the end of a scrambling completion from Woods to Emmerson Cortez-Menjiver: At the end of a 25-yard gain Solomon Tuliaupupu popped the ball loose and UM’s Elijawah Tolbert recovered at the Idaho 40.  

There was 7:10 left, and Montana pushed the ball down to the 9-yard line before settling for Adam Morrison’s 27-yard field goal with 1:56 remaining. That made it 41-22.  

Wood tacked on a fourth-and-goal, 1-yard TD run in the final minute. Montana had its second win over a ranked FCS opponent in hand, and it came easier than the 24-23 win over North Dakota. 

“That’s kind of what we’re trying to do, is get better,” Grizzlies coach Bobby Hauck said. “We’re not the most experienced team, but we’re a high-effort team that’s willing to work to improve, and I think we took another step forward today.” 

The Vandals (2-3 overall, 0-1 in the Big Sky) stayed within shouting distance behind Wood, a slippery complement to hard-running back Nate Thomas (19 carries, 70 yards). After halftime he threw for 227 yards, biding time and unleashing completions of 62, 45 and 47 yards; his runs out of the pocket were more impressive. He rushed for three Idaho TDs. 

“Going into the game that was probably their best play,” Hauck said. “When you looked at their 10-plus (yard) plays this season, it was all him scrambling around for the most part. 

“He has a pretty good arm, too, but he creates problems because he can break tackles. ... We handled him pretty well for the most part, but there were some times in the fourth quarter when we didn’t do a great job.” 

Montana kept answering Wood’s heroics. Wortham caught Ah Yat’s one TD pass, making a leaping grab of a 22-yard throw into the north end zone at 9:22 of the third quarter; in the first half the Eastern Washington transfer ran a read option 11 yards for another score. 

With its lead down to 31-22, Ah Yat guided a 79-yard drive that was helped by a) a 14-yard completion to Drew Deck, b) a 13-yard burst from Gilman and c) a facemask penalty on Idaho. Ah Yat’s TD run more or less sealed it. 

Deck had five catches for 67 yards. Wortham had five for 57, put also set up both of Gillman’s scores with first, a 16-yard punt return to Idaho’s 23, and then a 50-yard kickoff return. 

“Mike does a lot of things well, obviously. His type of player is why they keep the all-purpose yard statistic,” Hauck said. “The punt return set up a score; the kick return was a big deal. He does a lot of good things. More to come, I hope.” 

For a half all of Idaho’s points came from a Montanan: Kicker Owen Adams out of Laurel hit a pair of field goals — one after Wood missed a wide-open receiver in the end zone — and the Vandals trailed 17-6 at intermission. 

The gap grew to 24-6 when Montana took its first possession of the third quarter 65 yards to paydirt. Wortham’s highlight-reel catch capped the drive. 

Then the game turned back-and-forth, prolonged by touchdowns and ESPN timeouts. It ended at 11:49 p.m. 

The Griz have their first road game next Saturday, at Idaho State. Idaho returns home to face Northern Colorado.