BOZEMAN — At Bobcat Stadium, fans may have noticed something new: a national championship billboard with “2025” written loud and proud alongside the words “National Champions.”
It’s something every Bobcat fan hopes becomes a tradition. But before that, there’s another tradition that has already become part of Montana State football culture: Gold Rush.
WATCH: Montana State's Gold Rush tradition started with a dorm room idea in 2006 — now 21,000 fans fill Bobcat Stadium in gold. Learn how it all began
“When you can talk to people and say, ‘Can’t wait for Gold Rush,’ it’s an amazing touch point to have,” said Bill Lamberty.
Lamberty, the assistant athletic director at Montana State, has been wearing blue and gold for decades.
“I got to Bozeman in October of 1990. October 16,” Lamberty said.
Like many longtime fans, Lamberty remembers a time before Gold Rush even existed.
“Was there any sort of tradition prior to Gold Rush?” I asked.
“No,” Lamberty said.
So how did the tradition begin?
“In 2006 there was sort of an organic movement by some kids in the dorms to do a ‘Paint It Blue’ thing,” Lamberty said. “And you could look down and see, ‘Yeah, there’s some blue down there.’”
At the time, average attendance hovered around 13,000 fans. But the “Paint It Blue” movement got then-marketing director Drew Ingraham thinking.
“He calls it a silly T-shirt promotion even now,” Lamberty said. “But he took the idea of gold and it evolved into Gold Rush.”
On Sept. 15, 2007, gold T-shirts filled Bobcat Stadium as more than 14,000 fans watched Montana State defeat Dixie State — now Utah Tech — 61-7.
“It really became something that energized people a little bit,” Lamberty said.
And just like that, Gold Rush was born.
Now, the tradition has grown beyond the game itself and includes the annual Gold Rush T-shirt competition.
“It’s been a little more than 10 years since we made it a fan competition,” said Holoakea Husen, Montana State’s athletics director of marketing. “It originally just came as a design that was done in-house via our athletics department.”
Husen said the competition is serious business, especially when it comes to selecting a winner. This year, the department received more than 40 submissions.
“Then the committee decides the final four,” Husen said. “Then we send the final four to social media and all of Bobcat Nation gets to vote.”
Bobcat fans have selected standout designs over the years. Now, the 2026 Gold Rush design has been revealed.
“We’ve got the championship flags up on top like they are on top of the scoreboard,” Husen said. “‘Champions Wear Gold.’ That’s a pretty cool motto Gus came up with.”
This year’s winning designer is Gus O’Keefe, a Montana native who has attended Bobcat games for most of his life.
On Saturday, his design will appear on thousands of shirts throughout the stadium. Husen said more than 6,500 shirts were made for Montana State students and staff alone, not including the thousands more expected to be worn by fans during the weekend.
Gold Rush has become a major part of Montana State football culture — something Lamberty said has been remarkable to witness over the years.
“For someone who was here when we were averaging 6,000 or 7,000 fans a game for a season, to see 21,000 fans all in gold celebrating a championship, celebrating this new team — I mean, it’s incredible,” Lamberty said.
