As the sun began to set over Eastern Washington's Roos Field, Logan Fife led Montana out onto the field for the first time.
The redshirt senior was making his first start for the Grizzlies in their Big Sky Conference opener against the Eagles on Sept. 28, 2024. Fife may have been a mystery to most watching. After all, he had only received sporadic snaps in UM's first four games and rarely played at Fresno State from 2020-23.
By the game's end, they knew everything about him.
Fife dazzled with five touchdowns and 364 passing yards in a 52-49 shootout victory over EWU. The result? Big Sky Offensive Player of the Week honors and starts in seven of the Grizzlies' last eight games of 2024, giving him eight starts in 13 games. It was almost everything Fife had desired.
Almost.
In his sixth season, Fife now finally has what he wants. He's been truly handed the reins of a Division I program, and it's one that desperately needs his help.
That is New Mexico State. While Fife was leading UM to the FCS playoffs, the Aggies were chucking quarterbacks at a wall and hoping one would stick. Sometimes it worked, but NM State's passing attack, which ranked bottom 15 in FBS in total passing yards, passing yards per game and passing touchdowns last season, was mostly a masterclass in futility that seemed to apologize to the end zone for bothering it at all.
Fife is here to change that. He wants to be the face of the Aggies, and he's ready for everything that it entails.
"It's everything I've always wanted," Fife told the Las Cruces Sun-News. "I don't take it for granted, because I know how hard I've worked to get to this point. It's been five years. Things have gone my way and things haven't. So now, being in a position that I've really dreamed of since I was a young kid, starting being a starting college quarterback for a university, is everything I've asked for."
Fife appears to be everything NM State's coaches and teammates have wanted as well. Aggies offensive coordinator David Yost said he "carries himself" like a quarterback should during spring football, while coach Tony Sanchez called him a "natural leader" at July's Conference USA Kickoff.
Wide receivers coach Cedric Cormier has also echoed Fife as someone NM State's players have gravitated toward.
"He's a real mature guy," Cormier said. "He's seen a lot as well, so he's kind of that older presence. The guys have kind of definitely gravitated towards him. When he speaks, they listen."
Fife will be tasked with vastly improving the Aggies' passing offense and bringing them the winning ways that predecessor Diego Pavia once brought them to from 2022-23. But he also has a chance to go wire to wire as a starting quarterback for the first time as a college player.
Five long years without that may make other quarterbacks anxious when they finally get an opportunity. Not Fife. He couldn't embrace it any further.
"They're getting a great football player," Fife said. "When I step out onto the football field, I feel like I turn into a different person. There's this mantra to me that I'm ready to just go win at any matter."
Fife was immersed in sports from a young age.
His family was all huge sports fans. There was an NFL game on in the living room every Sunday, and college football on Saturdays after Fife finished his youth football game in the morning. He was naturally a fan of the Oakland Raiders (now in Las Vegas), having grown up near California's Bay Area in Tracy, and had two favorite college football teams: Fresno State and Oregon.
Fife's first youth football experiences were at linebacker, but he started playing quarterback when he was seven years old. He started taking his quarterback training more seriously in middle school, ditching linebacker and going to several football camps hosted by Football University and Elite 11 in seventh and eighth grade.
Fife also found his first quarterback trainer, Will Hewlett, whose clients include San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy. The two would mainly focus on improving Fife's spin rate to put more velocity on his passes, as well as refine his footwork, mechanics and off-platform throws to prepare him for what was to come in high school.
"He was gritty, tough and a gamer as well," Hewlett told the Las Cruces Sun-News. "I think he fits in that category where... he's constantly overlooked as he doesn't fit the prototypical style of player in terms of tall and lanky and super twitchy, but he's a guy that was just very good at all different parts of the game, and he kind of plays with that chip on his shoulder. He just needs the right opportunity to really show what he's capable of."
That opportunity came early.
Fife played his first varsity season at Tracy High School in 2016 as a 14-year-old freshman, one he needed a waiver to play in as the California Interscholastic Federation prohibits kids aged under 15 from playing varsity sports. He was one of the youngest players on the field each game as a freshman, and played like one with only a 45.3% completion rate. But he improved as a sophomore with 17 touchdowns, six interceptions and 1,781 passing yards to help the Bulldogs reach the second round of the state playoffs.
Fife's confidence and maturity helped him excel, but it still shocks him at how young he was when he started.
"Now that I look back at it, it sounds kind of crazy," Fife said. "But I didn't think much of it. It's just football, and it was an opportunity that I had worked for really hard. I always wanted to be that younger guy who played varsity football. As a young athlete, you want to be the true freshman that's up there... and when I got to that point, it was a really satisfying feeling."
Fife found a new trainer, Sione Ta'ufo'ou, and it helped him have his best seasons at Tracy. He combined for 5,349 total yards and 65 total touchdowns as a junior and senior, earning first-team All-Tri-City Athletic League selections in both seasons.
But his opportunities to play Division I football weren't exactly coming in droves. He received his only D-I scholarship offer before his senior season from Cal Poly in January 2019 and committed as the Mustangs' triple option offense was similar to Tracy's.
But Fife would soon get what he was truly looking for, and it happened by chance. Jaden Casey, a three-star prospect committed to Fresno State, flipped to California in October 2019. Suddenly, Bulldogs coach Jeff Tedford needed a new quarterback for his upcoming recruiting class.
He called Fife as he was about to watch football with his father on a Saturday afternoon. Fife had mingled with him and his staff before at Fresno State camps, but he suspected he'd say something important this time after hearing about Casey's de-commitment. He sprang from his couch, walked outside and heard his dream come to life. The Bulldogs were offering him.
There wasn't a decision to make. The childhood Fresno State fan was now committed to it.
"It was something that was always a big trip for us," said Gary Fife, recollecting on the three-hour drives he and his son would make every season to watch Bulldogs games. "He loved all college football, especially the big power schools, but he always had Fresno close to his heart, because he had that experience while he was growing up, hitting those games and going to them."
Just like how he waited years for the D-I offer he wanted, Fife waited for his opportunity at Fresno State.
He didn't play in 2020 as a freshman and played once in 2021. Fife threw passes in five games in place of an injured Jake Haener in 2022, receiving praise from Tedford for his appearance against No. 7 USC, but also a caution about what was coming.
"He has to understand that, no different than any quarterback in there, you have to let everybody do their job around you," Tedford said in a press conference days after the Bulldogs played the Trojans. "You don't have to try to do too much. Just do your job."
Maybe Fife did try to do too much. He struggled in his four starts after playing USC and threw six interceptions to just two touchdowns with a 42.6 QBR.
It wasn't all bad in Fresno. He learned behind Haener (now on the New Orleans Saints, whom the Sun-News attempted to schedule an interview with) and developed under offensive coordinators Ryan Grubb, Kirby Moore and Pat McCann (the former two are now at Alabama and Missouri, respectively, who either declined or didn't respond to interview requests).
His maturity also grew as he improved from the sidelines.
"I think it's very humbling for every athlete that makes that transition from being a stud in high school where they grew up, and where they're at (where) the pool gets a little bigger," Gary Fife said. "How do you work past that? How do you continue to grow? How do you find the opportunities to achieve what your goals?
"All quarterbacks have a certain mentality, but after a little bit of time... I think Logan understood how he carried himself and prepared during the week. I thought he did a really good job just focusing on the things that he could control, focusing on the details of practice preparation, really putting a lot of time into the film."
There was still something missing. Fife accomplished his dream on paper, but he didn't play much and left something to be desired when he did. After just two starts in 2023, Fife exercised his privilege as a graduate student to enter the transfer portal before the season ended with Tedford's blessing.
It took two months of searching, including a three-week commitment to Minnesota, before Montana offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Brent Pease (he declined a Sun-News interview request), who had a mutual connection with Fife due to coaching Moore as Boise State's offensive coordinator in 2011, invited him to visit.
A chance to play after starter Clifton McDowell departed for McNeese State, a consistent FCS playoff program with a great home atmosphere, and several hunting and fishing spots all appealed to Fife. Like that Saturday afternoon in 2019, he didn't contemplate much.
"I got on the phone with them, took a visit, and three days later I moved in," Fife said. "That was a good experience."
Fife seized his opportunity against EWU and never looked back. He threw for 344 yards and two touchdowns the next week against Weber State and guided the Grizzlies to the second round of the FCS playoffs.
Fife showed how he evolved with the Grizzlies. He was a more efficient passer, recording the second-lowest turnover-worthy play percentage (1.9%) and the fourth-highest Pro Football Focus passing grade (78.7) among qualified Big Sky quarterbacks, and led a sound offense that averaged 410.9 yards per game.
Fife also gained confidence each week, attributing it to his Fresno State days.
"I think because of my time at Fresno and learning how to hone in on the things that matter and the things that are in my control, it allowed me to play good when I got the opportunities," Fife said. "I'm really happy I got as much experience out of it as I did. Every time I went in, I felt ready, I felt prepared and I felt like I was the guy that should've been playing. When you have that mentality, you feel like no one's going to stop you."
That mentality is why those who knew Fife weren't surprised to see him play well.
"I know he had to wait for his opportunity at Fresno State before starting a few games over the course of a few seasons... but his success at Montana didn't surprise me," Ta'ufo'ou, now California's outside linebackers and assistant defensive line coach, told the Sun-News. "You can't stop the guys who are that motivated and eager to have success."
But things changed. Fife says UM "didn't bother to keep me around" after the season ended, leaving him to believe it wasn't the best place for him. His second portal experience was the inverse of his first, as interest in him grew rapidly.
He visited NM State on the weekend after the December portal window opened and was an Aggie right after that on Dec. 15.
He was NM State's starter from the moment he arrived. Sanchez's declaration of such after the Aggies' spring game was almost a formality.
"Bringing in Logan Fife, a guy who started multiple games of Fresno State, a guy who started eight games last year at Montana... We look at his completion percentage, it's well over 60%," Sanchez said on National Signing Day in February. "He's played on the big stage, he's played in front of some really big teams, and he's been successful doing it, so we're excited about that.
"Going into spring football, the first snap that we take under center, Logan Fife will be the quarterback. He'll run with the (starters) right away."
Much has changed for Fife since he arrived in Las Cruces.
He's become the center of NM State's team, as its offense has been built around him. He's earned more attention, as he's constantly asked to do interviews and represent the Aggies at media events. And he's become NM State's instant leader, with the eyes of every teammate and coach on him.
He's also become a father, as he and fiancée Lauren Sabbatini welcomed their daughter on Aug. 12.
A seismic shift has occurred in Fife's life this year, but he wouldn't change it for the world.
"It's something that I've always wanted and strived for," Fife said during an Aug. 18 press conference. "It's why I've worked my whole life to be where I'm at, and throughout these college years, I've had to learn through a lot of different experiences. So now to finally be in this role... I'm trying to just enjoy every moment, show up to work every day, work hard, stay true to who I am and just continue to play the game that I love."
Fife quickly learned the ropes of offensive coordinator David Yost's fast, up-tempo offense during spring football. Yost says he tried to "be Superman" during his first three days of practice, but that he's had "nothing but good days" since he learned to play more smoothly.
Yost believes Fife has felt loose at NM State. After all, he doesn't have to worry about a quarterback battle this time.
"Logan's been able to settle in, and I think he has the confidence of his teammates," Yost said. "I think he can feel that. This is the first time he's ever felt like, 'Hey, I'm QB1 and this is my group. It's my team. I'm gonna do it.' I think he feels a little bit more at ease, so he can go out and just be himself."
Fife also quickly earned the respect of his new teammates. Whether it's with how he plays, how he leads or how he acts off the field, the Aggies have all gravitated toward their new signal caller.
"I love his style," said wide receiver TJ Pride. "He is a pocket passer first, but if he does need to run, he will run. He's a good dude. He can get the ball to you anywhere on the field. He has a good arm. He's very smart, and we're always on the same page."
Being overlooked and passed has been a theme in Fife's career. But now, his dreams of playing at the D-I level and being the leader of a team have aligned for his final season of college football.
Fife spent years working for everything he has now, and has one last chance to put his name in lights. He's determined not to let it go to waste.
"It's been five years, things have gone my way and things haven't," Fife said. "So now, being in a position that I've really dreamed of since I was a young kid, being a starting college quarterback, is everything I've asked for... I'm excited for this opportunity. I'm excited to lead. I'm excited to make other people better.
"And I think," Fife said, before a quick pause to rethink. "I know we're definitely in for a big season."