– James Madison Director of Athleticshas announced the signing of a home-and-home football series with Weber State out of the Big Sky Conference for the 2021 and 2022 seasons.The Dukes make their first road trip to the Mountain Time Zone on Sept. 18, 2021, when they face off with the Wildcats at Stewart Stadium in Ogden, Utah. The following season, the teams open the year against each other at Bridgeforth Stadium on Sept. 3, 2022.JMU and Weber State met once previously in a walk-off, postseason thriller on Dec. 8, 2017. JMU scored 11 unanswered points over the final 2:08, capped off bygame-winning, 46-yard field goal as time expired to lift JMU to a 31-28 FCS quarterfinal win."The Weber State series follows the recent Chattanooga series as an attractive home-and-home agreement against an institution that has established itself as one of the top in the FCS, as we saw first-hand in 2017," Bourne said. "We have had interest in scheduling a top-tier FCS opponent like this. Without a FBS game on our schedule in 2021, it provided the perfect opportunity to schedule a tough road FCS game yet maintain our scheduling priority of six home games in Bridgeforth Stadium. This will also be the first time for JMU football to compete west of Frisco, Texas, so it's a great opportunity for our student-athletes and fans."This series pits two teams who have consistently been in the upper echelon of the FCS ranks. JMU has been ranked every week since Nov. 10, 2014, inside the top 15 every week since the beginning of the 2015 season and in the top 10 since Sept. 26, 2016. Weber State, currently ranked fourth nationally, has been in the top five for the past five weeks and inside the top 10 for all but two weeks over the previous two seasons.Both teams are currently riding program-record streaks for postseason berths, as the Dukes have advanced to five straight playoffs and the Wildcats have been in the field of 24 for a school-record three straight years.