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The Northern Arizona football team could only give itself a chance to keep its season going Saturday. There was no guarantee, even with a win, that the Lumberjacks would play beyond their regular-season finale against the Eastern Washington Eagles at the Walkup Skydome.

What the 21st-ranked Lumberjacks accomplished for certain, though, was a 30-18 win over the Eagles. The victory pushed Northern Arizona to a record of 8-4 (6-2 Big Sky) -- the best win total since 2013 -- and an undefeated, 5-0 home mark for the first time since 2015.

Whether the victory was enough to earn a berth in the FCS playoffs was up to the selection committee on Sunday. The committee gave the Lumberjacks a bid, and Northern Arizona is now set to face No. 15 Abilene Christian in the first round.

On Saturday, while still uncertain, the win ended coach Brian Wright鈥檚 first regular season with the Lumberjacks on a high note and gave the team something to celebrate.

鈥淚鈥檓 proud of how our guys, especially at the end of this ballgame, finished it off and handled the moment. I鈥檓 not sure that we handled the moment at the beginning of the ball game as well as we needed to necessarily, but when we needed it, our guys stepped up,鈥� Wright said.

鈥淎t 8-4, we gave ourselves a shot. We鈥檒l see what happens,鈥� Lumberjacks linebacker Tommy Ellis added.

It鈥檚 been a long process to get to this point.

鈥淢ost of us got together in early December. We had a bunch of guys like these two guys right here that decided to stay,鈥� Wright said, pointing to Ellis and receiver Tay Lanier on either side of him during the press conference. 鈥淭hey decided to believe in a new staff, a new culture, a new program. And they were all in. And as a result, you get the opportunity to go to the playoff selection show tomorrow morning with eight wins.鈥�

The Lumberjacks were led offensively by quarterback Ty Pennington, who threw for 312 yards and a touchdown, while also rushing for 48 more yards and another score. Receiver Kolbe Katsis picked up 130 receiving yards, including a 75-yard score. He left the game in the second quarter with an apparent injury and didn't return to the field.

Running back Seth Cromwell finished with 112 rushing yards and a touchdown.

Defensively, the Lumberjacks held the high-flying Eagles in check. After scoring 77 points a week prior, Eastern Washington was held to 301 total yards -- and 134 on the ground. The Eagles also converted just seven of their 15 third-down attempts.

Ellis led the way with 15 tackles and a tackle for loss. Defensive back Alex McLaughlin recorded 13 tackles, half a tackle for loss and an interception that sealed the game.

Down 18-17 with 2:45 left in the third quarter, the Lumberjacks got the ball back after an Eagkes field goal. They moved the ball down the field with the run, capped off by a touchdown rush from Cromwell.

Another long drive with several third-down conversions led to a Pennington touchdown run that put the Lumberjacks up two scores and all but closed the game out.

鈥淲e had to run the football there and run the clock. I鈥檓 so proud of our guys up front; our guys out on the perimeter had to make some tough blocks to help set that up. And then you鈥檝e got Seth running extremely hard, and Ty ran extremely hard there down the stretch,鈥� Wright said.

Northern Arizona dominated possession and yardage in the first half. Its offense put up 313 yards, including 232 via the pass, compared to just 129 from the Eagles.

However, seven penalties and a pair of turnovers on downs kept the Lumberjacks from fully capitalizing and putting together a multiscore lead.

The Lumberjacks scored 14 on a pair of passing touchdowns -- a flea-flicker from Pennington to Katsis and a trick throw from receiver Isaiah Eastman to Lanier.

鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 really thinking I was going to get the ball. I was looking, and I saw the ball in the air and said, 鈥業鈥檝e got to go get it,鈥欌�� Lanier said of his touchdown reception. He finished the game with a career-high 122 yards on five receptions.

Then Northern Arizona forced a turnover on downs at their own 42-yard line with 1:54 left in the half. It pushed the ball down the field and lined up to kick a field goal from the Eastern Washington 6-yard line with five seconds left.

The kick went up and good, but the Eagles had called a timeout to negate the play. After the break, the Lumberjacks went with another trick play instead of taking the easy kick to go up 10 points.

The entire line of scrimmage, other than the snapper, moved to the right side of the field. Punter Ben D鈥橝quila, alone, handed the ball off to tight end Xander Werner in motion. Werner looked to throw the ball at the last second, but was tackled for loss as time expired. The Lumberjacks went into halftime up a mere touchdown, 14-7.

Another mistake cost Northern Arizona two points immediately after. Northern Arizona caught the opening kick of the third quarter in the end zone, but didn鈥檛 call a fair catch or kneel to secure the touchback. Rather, walking casually out of the end zone, the Lumberjacks were tackled at the 1-yard line. A play later, Eastern Washington defensive lineman Matthew Brown broke through the Lumberjacks offensive line for a safety.

鈥�(We had) some sloppy play, a bunch of penalties, the kickoff return and that results into a safety. We had lost momentum there, and it鈥檚 a great sign that really matured in our locker room to be able to finish that way when things weren鈥檛 going so well,鈥� Wright said.

The Lumberjacks are now at the mercy of the selection committee, which will announce a bracket Sunday morning.

Regardless of how Sunday plays out -- though going without a postseason berth would be disappointing -- the Lumberjacks have plenty to be cheerful about this year.

There's one more game at least, a playoff battle at Abilene Christian in Abilene, Texas. But that's just one more reward for a team that's deserved to celebrate.

鈥淚鈥檝e had so much fun with this team. From January until now, it鈥檚 been nothing short of awesome,鈥� Ellis said.