1996 Montana State Bobcats football team

The 1996 Montana State Bobcats football team was an American football team that represented Montana State University in the Big Sky Conference (Big Sky) during the 1996 NCAA Division I-AA football season. In their fifth season under head coach Cliff Hysell, the Bobcats compiled a 6–5 record (3–4 against Big Sky opponents) and tied for fifth place in the Big Sky.^[1]

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 14	at Nevada*	Mackay Stadium Reno, NV	L 7–31	23,210	[2]
September 21	Minnesota–Duluth*	Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT	W 37–0	8,207	[3]
September 28	No. 17 Idaho State	Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT	W 17–13	9,607	[4]
October 5	at Eastern Washington	Woodward Field Cheney, WA	L 13–20	5,027	[5]
October 12	No. 10 Northern Arizona	Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT	L 19–48	12,967	[6]
October 19	at Cal State Northridge	North Campus Stadium Northridge, CA	W 24–17	5,631	[7]
October 26	Portland State	Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT	W 24–6	4,227	[8]
November 2	at Weber State	Wildcat Stadium Ogden, UT	L 7–17	6,102	[9]
November 9	Cal Poly*	Sales Stadium Bozeman, MT	W 37–20	3,607	[10]
November 16	at Sacramento State	Hornet Stadium Sacramento, CA	W 49–14	2,107	[11]
November 23	at No. 2 Montana	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT (rivalry)	L 14–35	19,042	[12]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from The Sports Network Poll released prior to the game