Carter Curnow: Montana State = Home

Curnow, a senior tight end/linebacker at Dillon, committed to MSU last week. He hopes his talent, versatility, and work ethic will allow him to enjoy a college career similar to ones Andersen and Fitzgerald recently finished.

“It’s a great opportunity, staying in state, staying close to home,” Curnow told 406 MT Sports on Wednesday. “I couldn’t be more excited, and I’m super ready. I’m going to go have a great senior year, and then I’m excited to roll as a Bobcat.”

Curnow’s MSU ties don’t end with Andersen and Fitzgerald. His cousin, Max Murphy, is a redshirt sophomore fullback with the Bobcats. Curnow’s quarterback at Dillon last season, Kee Christiansen, is entering his first season at MSU. Curnow’s mother and grandfather also attended MSU.

Those connections played small roles in Curnow’s decision to commit to the Cats. His future teammates and coaches — namely head coach Brent Vigen, offensive coordinator Tyler Walker, and tight ends coach Jordan Walsh — made the biggest impact.

“A lot of it was just them being them and what they do and how they recruited,” Curnow said. “They just made it seem like it was home from the beginning.”

The 6-foot-4, 225-pound Curnow somewhat considered playing linebacker at the next level, but MSU’s coaches preferred him at tight end, and so did he.

“I can block whenever they need me, and I can go catch the ball,” he said. “I can move pretty good too. I’m super excited to kind of put that all in. I like the way they use their tight ends, just putting them in everything.”

One of Curnow’s best on-field traits is his physicality, according to Dillon head coach Zach McRae.

“He has a knack for being around the ball, and I would equate that to playing middle linebacker,” McRae said. “He has a feel for how the game is played. And then I think his greatest skill on the field is just being vocal and a leader by example.”

McRae wishes more people could see Curnow on non-game days.

“He is the hardest practice player I think I’ve ever coached. He dominates the weight room each and every day,” McRae said, adding, “He consistently does a whole bunch of community service activities, is the first one to rally the troops for those types of things. … We do a leadership academy in the summer, and he’s a vocal part of that. He’s a first-class student as well, respected amongst all students in the school. He’s just very well-rounded.”

Curnow helped Dillon win Class A state titles in both football and basketball last season, earning all-state selections in both sports. He hopes to roll into Bozeman with more hardware.

“Winning both state titles was a thing we’ve been chasing the whole time, something that we’ve been working really hard for,” he said. “For it to come full circle and all the hard work to pay off, it felt really nice. And then committing to top it off felt really nice.

“But that’s in the past. It felt really good, but now we’re onto the next and we’re chasing two more this year.”