Montana St. 38, Portland St. 36

Published Oct. 8, 2011 9:02 p.m. ET

foxsports

DeNarius McGhee passed for 255 yards and four touchdowns as Montana State held on for a 38-36 victory over Portland State on Saturday.

Portland State rallied from a 38-22 deficit in the final 7 minutes, but came up short on a two-point conversion with 2:52 remaining that could have sent the game into overtime.

McGhee had a hand in all five touchdowns for Montana State (5-1, 3-0 Big Sky), throwing for TDs of 5, 24, 69 and 6 yards, while also scoring on a 1-yard run.

Portland State (3-2, 2-1) pulled within 38-30 on a 1-yard run from Cory McCaffrey with 3:46 remaining. After recovering the ensuing kickoff deep in Montana State territory, the Vikings got on the board again when Kalua Noa caught a 15-yard pass from Connor Kavanaugh with 2:52 left.

But Montana State stopped Kavanaugh short of the goal line on the two-point conversion attempt, and ran out the clock from there.