It took a bit of research, but I finally found the last time North Texas and SMU won a football game on the same day.

It was Oct. 26, 2013, roughly 40 college football Saturdays ago, before the two area schools prevailed last weekend with a pair of the day's biggest upsets. North Texas toppled Army, and SMU shocked No. 11 Houston.

But back to October 2013. North Texas routed Southern Mississippi 55-14, with Derek Thompson passing for 300 yards and two touchdowns. SMU outgunned Temple 59-49, with Garrett Gilbert passing for a school-record 538 yards and four scores.

Thompson and Gilbert were seniors that season. Thompson closed his career with a Heart of Dallas Bowl victory and left North Texas as the second-most prolific passer in school history. Gilbert also departed SMU as the second-most prolific passer in his school's history.

Both schools then entered a quarterbacking wilderness. SMU used five quarterbacks over the next two seasons and North Texas four. SMU went 3-21 over those two years and North Texas 5-19. Both head coaches from that victorious October day in 2013 have departed.

Chad Morris was hired at SMU in 2015 and Seth Littrell at North Texas in 2016. Both were former ACC offensive coordinators, so both knew the value of the quarterback position. Both opened the 2016 season with seniors at quarterback. Morris returned his incumbent starter Matt Davis, and Littrell went with Alabama transfer Alec Morris.

But by the second game, both offenses were in the hands of freshmen. A season-ending knee injury to Davis put redshirt freshman Ben Hicks on the field at SMU. An opening-day struggle by Morris put true freshman Mason Fine on the field at North Texas. The magic was apparent right away -- in a game, ironically, against each other in the season opener.

Hicks connected with Courtland Sutton for an 88-yard touchdown on his third college snap in SMU's 34-21 victory over North Texas. Fine marched North Texas 80 yards in 11 plays for a late touchdown in his first college drive, completing six of seven passes for 54 yards and rushing three times for 15 more yards.

Both became starters in their second college games -- and both endured early struggles. Fine didn't throw a touchdown pass in his first two starts, and Hicks threw nine interceptions in his first four starts. But Fine has thrown for a touchdown in each of his last four games, and Hicks has thrown for seven touchdowns in his last three games, including three in the upset of Houston.

And suddenly, there is hope for these two football programs. Each now has a quarterback capable of success, as evidenced by last Saturday. SMU was a 20 1/2-point underdog against Houston and North Texas a 171/2-point underdog at Army. Fine and Hicks have bright futures, with potentially three more seasons as starters ahead of them. The talent is there.

Fine is the state of Oklahoma's all-time leading passer, throwing for 13,081 yards and 166 touchdowns. He is the only two-time player of the year in state history. But because of his size -- he's listed at 5-11, 170 pounds, and that's being generous -- the only school that offered him a scholarship was North Texas.

But Littrell was looking for ability at the quarterback position, not necessarily size.

"He's one of the best freshmen I've ever been around," Littrell said. "He's managing the game and has a lot of confidence in his ability. I'm really excited about the future and what Mason brings to the table. I think he's going to be a special player for us. He understands he has a lot of room to grow, but he works extremely hard. You know he's going to get so much better just because of his work ethic.

"The good thing about it is that there's no doubt in my mind he'll get it done."

Scholarship offers were not an issue for Hicks. Michigan and Florida made him offers, but he chose SMU and the opportunity to be coached by Morris. Hicks passed for 3,500 yards with 28 touchdowns and just six interceptions in his senior year at Waco Midway, then sat out his true freshman season with a redshirt in 2015 as SMU muddled home with a 2-10 record.

After that interception-laden start this season, Hicks has shown the talent that Michigan, Florida and Morris coveted. He has passed for five touchdowns with no interceptions in his last two games, an overtime loss at a 5-2 Tulsa team and that victory over 6-2 Houston.

"He's going to have a great career here -- a great career," Morris said. "So much a part of it is he's such a fierce competitor. Now, he still has a big learning curve ahead of him, but he's gotten so much better as the year has gone on. And you've seen drastic improvement over the last three weeks. He's got a great future ahead of him. He has the skill set to be a four-year starter."

Surprisingly, both North Texas and SMU head toward Halloween in position to go bowling this season. Who saw this coming? SMU was picked to finish fifth in the West in the American Athletic Conference, and North Texas was picked to finish sixth (and last) in the West in Conference USA.

Yet the postseason is in the grasp of both teams. The 4-3 Mean Green need only two more victories, and the 3-4 Mustangs need three.

With freshman quarterbacks. Yes, there is a future for these two programs.

Listen to Rick Gosselin at 10:50 a.m. Tuesdays on Sportsradio 1310 AM/96.7 FM The Ticket with Norm Hitzges and Donovan Lewis.