SLIPPERY ROCK — As Josh Portis goes, so goes the California (Pa.) University football team — and Portis is rolling.

The 6-foot-4 Vulcans graduate student, who previously played at Division I schools Florida and Maryland, has 19 touchdown passes among his last 136 aerials and no interceptions in that span.

PSAC West-leading California (6-2, 5-0) faces Slippery Rock (5-3, 2-3) at 1 p.m. Saturday at N. Kerr Thompson Stadium for The Rock's final home game of the season.

"He struggled in their first two games, still learning the offense," SRU coach George Mihalik said. "Now he's on a roll. We have to find a way to put some heat on him."

Portis, a cousin of Washington Redskins running back Clinton Portis, has completed 105 of 195 passes for 1,602 yards, 20 touchdowns and four interceptions.

After losses of 23-17 to Saginaw Valley (Mich.) and 17-10 to Bloomsburg to open the season, the Vulcans have scored at least 30 points in reeling off six consecutive wins.

California is seeking its fourth straight PSAC West title and is riding a streak of 18 consecutive wins against West Division foes.

The Vulcans also have a streak of 14 consecutive PSAC West road wins, their last a 21-14 decision at SRU in 2005.

While California enters Saturday's game ranked No. 3 in the region, back-to-back losses have knocked SRU out of the Top 10.

"This is a pride game for us," Mihalik said. "We're still looking for a game where we put it all together as a football team. Our defense held us in for a few games. Last week, our offense gets untracked and our defense wasn't there.

"We need to be hitting on all three phases of the game to win Saturday."

The PSAC West Offensive Player of the Week the past two weeks — Alfonso Hoggard of Clarion and Zach Boedicker of Gannon — achieved those awards against SRU's defense. The Rock allowed 558 yards against Gannon in last week's 51-48 loss.

"We had 23 missed tackles in that game," Mihalik said. "Seven or fewer is a good game. They had 140 total rushing yards after those missed tackles.

"We had a number of defensive players play their worst game on the same week. I'm challenging our defense this week. I'm calling them out. Enough is enough."

The Vulcans will certainly provide a stiff test. Running back Windell Brown, sidelined much of the year by an ankle injury, had 21 carries for 148 yards and two TDs in last week's 38-14 win over Edinboro.

Freddie Bacco has rushed for 452 yards and five TDs. Portis has 296 rushing yards himself.

"Portis is a true dual threat. He can stand in the pocket and zip the ball, he can throw on the run or hurt you with the run," Mihalik said.

A.J. Jackson leads the Vulcans with 45 catches for 644 yards and 10 touchdowns. Terrance Moore adds 25 catches for 433 yards and seven scores.

Sophomore Chedrick Cherry is averaging nearly 37 yards per kickoff return and the California defense has allowed just 362 total rushing yards — 2.4 yards per carry — to PSAC West opponents.

California coach John Luckhardt won his 200th collegiate game last week and is one of only six active Division II coaches to reach that plateau. The Vulcans have won 47 of 55 games since 2006.

SRU's 468 offensive yards last week was a season-high. Rocco Colavecchia's 266 yards passing and Jermale Cromerdie's 102 yards receiving were career-highs.

"Cal has an aggressive front four and they use a lot of man coverage," Mihalik said. "They have the athletes and they believe they're better than you one-on-one.

"We need to hang around and give ourselves a chance in the fourth quarter. If we fall behind by a couple of scores early, it could get ugly real fast."

Luckhardt could not be reached for comment.