BOZEMAN — Decked out in yellow Montana State garb fitting for the Bobcats' annual Gold Rush football home opener, Jim McElwain mingled and coalesced with friends and former colleagues in what had to feel like a blast from the past.

Coaching took McElwain, a Missoula native, all over the country during his near 40-year career on the sidelines. Notably, he served as offensive coordinator at MSU from 1995-99 prior to later head jobs at Colorado State, Florida and, most recently, Central Michigan.

But his return to Bobcat Stadium last week was a full-circle moment more than two decades in the making.

WATCH THE VIDEO : Now retired, Missoula's Jim McElwain basked in Gold Rush glow at Montana State

"It's been 25 years," McElwain told MTN Sports prior to kickoff Saturday between Montana Stat

See Full Page