With one game left in the regular season, there is a lot on the line when the Panthers travel to San Diego for the fourth meeting of the year with the Strike Force.

Following a home win over Duke City, Bay Area (12-3) is locked in as the top overall seed in the Western Conference.  Head Coach Rob Keefe said in the aftermath the focus is still to win one more regular season football game to ramp up for the playoffs. 

However, for San Diego (10-5), there is added motivation.  In the playoffs for the first time, the Strike Force would secure the number two seed and first-round playoff game at home with a win.  They could also earn the number two seed with a loss if both Vegas and Arizona lose the final games.  Depending on how the Saturday games unfold, the Strike Force could fall all the way to fourth. 

That last scenario would set up a fifth meeting between the Panthers and Strike Force in San Jose in the IFL version of the Hatfields and McCoys.  If the adage is true that familiarity breeds contempt, then these two teams will be pretty annoyed with each other by July 28. 

The first three games between the California rivals were decided by a total of five points.

On April 20, the Panthers survived with a 53-50 win on Felix Harper's 4-yard TD run with 12 seconds left after blowing a 16-point lead.  Nate Davis nearly pulled off the comeback with a scoring pass to Elijah Lilly late in the fourth before Harper's heroics. 

Eight days later, Bay Area jumped out to a 33-6 lead in the third quarter before San Diego peeled off 26 straight points and was within a two-point conversion of a win.  Daquan Neal scored on a 10-yard run early in the third for the team's final points as the Panthers scored just once on four possessions after halftime. 

On June 16, the Strike Force rallied from 14 points down in the first half for a 43-42 win.  Nate Davis threw a 10-yard scoring pass to Jordan Kress with 19 seconds left and a drop-kick conversion from Connor Mangan provided the winning points. 

For fans who want the Panthers to rely on backups and rest the playoffs, the strategy is not entirely workable in the IFL.  With a roster of 25 active players and four on injured reserve, sitting a majority of starters is not possible.  For Keefe and the staff, there are only a few options to sit players.  In last year's regular season finale at Duke City, only two regular starters missed the game for rest before the playoff run.

Kickoff is set for Saturday, July 20 at 6:05 p.m. at Pechanga Sports Arena.