After backup quarterback Chris Treister helicoptered his way into the end zone for the game-winning two-point conversion, the University of Maine had one of its biggest wins in recent history.

Whether Treister’s heroics propel the Black Bears to one of their best seasons in recent memory remains to be seen.

Maine’s 25-24 OT win at James Madison vaulted it to No. 12 in the national FCS rankings. Perhaps more importantly, according to head coach Jack Cosgrove, it drew the kind of reaction and generated the kind of excitement back home that he has been begging for in recent years.

“It’s pretty humbling,” Cosgrove said Monday during his weekly CAA coaches conference call.

Cosgrove expected his team (4-1, 2-0 CAA) to stay grounded through a week of practices and into Saturday’s homecoming game against Rhode Island (1 p.m., WPME/TV).

Although Rhode Island is 1-4 (0-2 in the CAA) and Maine has won four straight over its old Yankee Conference rivals, three of the Rams’ four losses have come by nine points or less, and Maine needs every win it can get to keep its CAA title hopes alive.

The Black Bears have other worries to focus on, too. Unlike previous weeks, they didn’t lose anybody to injury against James Madison. But they came out of the game banged up, including leading rusher Pushaun Brown, who was limited in the second half by a thigh bruise.

“We’re limping around here, but that’s probably just like everyone else in the league,” Cosgrove said.

In Brown’s absence, and to counter JMU’s strong run defense, Maine relied on the passing of Warren Smith (295 yards, two TDs), and the senior quarterback added another chapter to his outstanding season.

“One of the things that was really special was how our quarterback played,” Cosgrove said. “I just think he really was on top of things with the reads and got the ball off. He’s been with us for three years now but probably his best performance was Saturday. When we needed him to make throws, he did.”

At the other end of a number of those big throws were sophomore tight end Justin Perillo (nine catches, 101 yards, TD in OT) and redshirt freshman wide receiver Arthur Williams (four catches, 64 yards), both of whom has been pressed into service due to injuries that have shortened the depth chart.

Cosgrove called Williams, a walk-on, “as pleasant a surprise as I’ve experienced in my time here.”

“He’s really gotten better,” Cosgrove said. “I had no idea he would play such a role in the game with a couple of really big catches.”

One of those catches extended the game-winning drive in overtime, a drive capped by Treister’s two-point run out of an unusual formation called the “muddle field goal.” Treister lined up in a shotgun in the middle of the field with his snapper. Two receivers lined up wide to the right and the other seven players wide to his left.

Treister, a former Portland High star from Cape Elizabeth, rolled right with the option to pass, but decided to make a break to the goal-line. He was met there by two JMU defenders who spun Treister as he leaped over the line and into the end zone.

ESPN named the dramatic finish its No. 2 play on its “Plays of the Day” segment Saturday.

“We believed in the quarterback making the right decision, and he did,” Cosgrove said. “He took the option that was there. When they took the pass away, he went and got the two points for us.”

“When you practice something as much as we’ve been practicing that and you have a guy that you have great trust in, then it’s really not as much of a gamble as you think,” Cosgrove said.