Ogden, Utah -- The Big Sky Conference has announced its football Players of the Week for games played on Saturday, Sept. 11. The Offensive Player of the Week is Montana quarterback Craig Ochs. Northern Arizona linebacker Bruce Branch earned Defensive Player of the Week honors, while Montana’s Jefferson Heidelberger was tabbed the Special Teams Player of the Week.

Ochs, a 6-foot-2, 205-pound senior from Boulder, Colo., won the award for a second straight week. Ochs completed 30-of-42 passes for a career-high 364 yards and a touchdown in second-ranked Montana’s 41-23 win over Hofstra. Ochs threw a 75-yard touchdown pass to Levander Segars to give Montana a 27-20 lead with 2:21 to play in the third quarter. For the season, Ochs has completed 52-of-76 passes (68.4 percent) for 591 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions. His pass efficiency rating is 144.7.

Branch, a 6-foot-1, 225-pound senior linebacker from Flagstaff, Ariz., registered a team-high 13 tackles in No. 13 Northern Arizona’s 24-17 overtime loss at Stephen F. Austin. Branch had two tackles for loss and recovered a fumble and returned it 17 yards for a touchdown to put Northern Arizona ahead 7-0 less than a minute into the contest. Branch also broke up one pass. This is the first Player of the Week honor for Branch.