Bobby Braswell has made a big deal of splitting the Cal State Northridge basketball season into three parts .Nonconference .Conference .Postseason .It 's time for the second season .And for the first time in seven Division I seasons , Northridge will play in a bona fide conference .An independent for four seasons and a member of the four-team American West Conference the past two seasons , Northridge opens Big Sky Conference play when it hosts Portland State at 7:05 p.m. Thursday .For the remainder of the season , the Matadors will play nothing but conference games .The past two seasons , Northridge would play an AWC game then two nonconference games before its next conference contest .The rest of this season , the Matadors will have games almost every Thursday and Saturday .And all of them will be important .Keith Higgins , the only player on the team to have experienced a real conference schedule , has warned his teammates ." That 's a big difference , " said Higgins , who started 26 games for Colorado of the Big Eight in 1994-95 ." Every game , you have to give your all , then come right back and play another game .Then the road , it 's killer ...Conference games are another level . "Because the AWC had just four teams , it was not guaranteed an NCAA tournament berth .There was no real motivation to be champion .The goal this season is clear : finish in the top six in conference in order to make the Big Sky tournament .Three wins at the tournament and the unthinkable happens _ Northridge in the NCAA Tournament .The Matadors , who won three straight before losing at Iowa on Sunday and finished 4-6 in Braswell 's " first season , " get to ease into the Big Sky .Portland State has not fielded a basketball team since 1981 .Saturday 's opponent , Eastern Washington , did not win a conference game last year .The first road trip , next week , is not only to the most remote corner of the conference , it features defending champion Montana State and this year 's preseason favorite , Montana .After that , save for a one-game trip to Idaho State at the end of January , the Matadors are home until the middle of February .Then they play five games in five states and spend 12 days on the road between Feb. 12 and 28 .Northridge finishes the regular season March 1 at home against Idaho State and hopes to then make plans for the conference tournament March 6-8 at the site of the regular-season champion .Following is a capsule look at what Northridge faces in the Big Sky Conference :Montana : The Grizzlies  8-4  have won five straight , including victories over Washington State and Gonzaga .Center Brent Smith  6-foot-10 , 235 pounds  leads the team with 12.7 points and 6.3 rebounds .All five starters average 9.6 points or better .Montana finished second in the Big Sky last season and was 20-8 overall , its third 20-win season in five years .Weber State : The Wildcats  4-5  have lost to Nebraska , Utah and Michigan State .Sophomore guard Damien Baskerville is averaging 16.8 points a game , junior guard Alex Fisher 16.6 and forward Ryan Cuff , the team 's only senior , 13.0 .Northern Arizona : After opening the season with losses to Sacramento State and Arizona , the Lumberjacks  6-3  won six straight before losing Monday at UNLV .Their 52.2 percent field-goal shooting ranks sixth nationally ." They're the surprise of the early season , " Montana coach Blaine Taylor said .Freshman Billy Hix did not start the first two games of the season but has started every one since .Junior Andrew Mavis is shooting better than 60 percent from the floor and averaging 17 points a game .Idaho State : Five players  two starters  are suspended , at least until their Jan. 7 court date , for their part in an alleged shoplifting incident .Nate Green , the only returning All-Conference player , leads the Bengals  4-4  with 16 points and 7.6 rebounds a game .Montana State : Former North Hollywood High School and Santa Monica College star Damion Ollie broke his right ankle Sunday against Air Force and is out at least eight weeks .He was the leader among seven new faces for the Bobcats  6-6  .Dante Rabb has stepped into the point-guard position after coach Mick Durham experimented the first seven games of the season .Eastern Washington : The Eagles have lost three straight , including an 89-87 loss to Santa Clara and a 27-point routing by Washington , to drop to 4-6 .Their only returning starter , 5-11 shooting guard Travis King , was a walk-on last season .The 1995-96 Eagles were just the second team in Big Sky history to go winless in conference .The other was the 1993-94 Eagles squad .Sacramento State : The Hornets have followed a season-opening victory at Northern Arizona with seven straight losses .Ted Hoogenbosch , a 6-11 , 235-pound center , suffered a stress fracture of the right fibula in a workout before the Northern Arizona game and will not be available until close to February .Senior guard Damond Edwards leads the team with 11.7 points a game .The Hornets lost 69-60 to St. Mary 's after leading much of the game .Portland State : Lack of money forced the discontinuation of the program in 1981 .The move to the Big Sky forced the reinstatement in 1996 .Playing a tough schedule for any team , let alone one with players who were just introduced , the Vikings started the season 0-6 before winning two of the past three .The wins are against NAIA schools .The Vikings opened the season with a last-second 56-54 loss at Mississippi and a week later lost by just seven at Washington .