Some say that a rivalry is only as good as the teams playing in it. Though Appalachian State's rivalry with Western Carolina in football has always been genuine, it hasn't always been competitive. Appalachian State holds a 50-18-1 edge and during one stretch that spanned the Sparky Woods-Jerry Moore eras, the Mountaineers won 13 straight. Oh there were a handful of games that were close - the 12-7 victory in 1994 is an example of that. And thanks to a huge day from current Carolina Panther Brad Hoover, the Catamounts snapped that 13-game losing streak with a 23-6 shocker back in 1998 in Cullowhee. However, it would be one in a row for the Cats, who dropped the next five to Appalachian, all by at least a touchdown or more. Until last year. Western Carolina left a calling card last year that shook the Mountaineers up. Trailing 27-16, Western roared back to claim a 30-27 victory, also in Cullowhee, that left a bitter taste with the Mountaineers. Even then, neither team was really playing for anything outside of the Old Mountain Jug, which was gathering dust in the Appalachian State football office before being given to the Catamounts as a spoil of victory. The Cats felt such pride in winning the jug back that they built a special display case to store it in. This year, the rivalry takes on a rare twist. This year, a Southern Conference championship is at stake. Western Carolina turned a lot of heads when it beat Furman back in early September. Though the Catamounts stumbled against Chattanooga and were blasted by Georgia Southern, they go into the game with a 5-3 overall record, 4-2 in the SoCon. Western needs this win and some help from other teams to win the SoCon championship, but it won't matter unless they beat the Mountaineers. There's three words you don't see in the same sentence very often: Western, SoCon and championship. For Appalachian State (6-3, 4-1), a win clinches a tie for the SoCon title and the automatic playoff berth. A win Saturday followed by another at Elon the following weekend could get the Mountaineers a top 5 ranking and a top 4 seed in the playoffs. A No. 2 seed guarantees the Mountaineers three home playoff games, which is significant since they are riding a 13-game home winning streak. Add to it the fact that Appalachian State is second in Division I-AA in attendance and it's no secret that Kidd Brewer Stadium is an intimidating place to play. Western will find that out Saturday afternoon.