Two Army-Navy football games in the same season? On consecutive weekends in December?

A prospect that seemed unimaginable for the first 124 years of the historic rivalry is now very much a possibility.

Army and Navy are both 4-0 for the first time since 1945 and are among a handful of unbeaten Group of Five conference programs. James Madison, Liberty and UNLV are the others.

Even more important in the big picture is that the Black Knights and Midshipmen are both 3-0 within the American Athletic Conference and looking very much like legitimate contenders.

Army has easily handled Florida Atlantic, Temple and Rice. Meanwhile, Navy has already upset Memphis, the preseason favorite in the AAC, while also easily dispatching Temple and Alabama-Birmingham.

If Army and Navy finish with the best win-loss records, the two service academies would meet in the American Athletic Conference championship game on Dec. 6. That would be eight days before the 125th Army-Navy Game, scheduled for Dec. 14 at Northwest Stadium in Landover.

This is Army’s first season in the AAC and a critical stipulation to its joining was that its annual meeting with Navy would not be a conference contest. That was done to ensure the Army-Navy Game would continue to be played on the second Saturday of December.

Since Army-Navy was moved to the second Saturday in December, it has been the only Football Bowl Subdivision game played that day.

While it might seem logical to simply have the Army-Navy Game double as the AAC championship game, that cannot be done because the AAC champion needs to be known by Dec. 8 when the final College Football Playoff rankings are released.

It had previously been announced that the CFP would announce the 12-team field on Dec. 8 as scheduled and therefore would not consider the result of the Army-Navy Game even if either or both programs were under consideration for a berth.

Considering all the hype, hoopla and pageantry — the intensity of emotions on both sides — the prospect of Army and Navy playing each other twice in eight days is difficult for most fans to wrap their heads around.

Navy athletic director Chet Gladchuk declined to comment when contacted Sunday, saying it was way too early in the season to entertain the topic. Navy travels to Colorado Springs, Colorado, this Saturday to take on Air Force in the opening leg of the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy series.

In 1945, Army was ranked 9-0 and No. 1 in the Associated Press poll and Navy, at 7-0-1, was No. 2. That year’s meeting, held at Municipal Stadium, was dubbed the “Game of the Century.” Army won that game, played before 102,000 fans including President Harry Truman, 32-13, and was declared college football national champions.

So far this season, Army and Navy have both been impressive on offense. Quarterback Blake Horvath has directed a new Wing-T attack that has the Midshipmen averaging 46 points and 466 total yards, ranking ninth and 24th nationally, respectively.

Navy leads the Football Bowl Subdivision in passing efficiency with Horvath having completed 34 of 53 attempts for 715 yards and eight touchdowns. The Mids rank fourth nationally in rushing offense (287.2 yards per game).

Horvath had touchdown passes of 77 and 74 yards to highlight Navy’s 41-18 rout of UAB on Saturday.

After installing a different brand of option football featuring shotgun formation and zone blocking schemes, Army coach Jeff Monken has switched back to the traditional “flexbone” featuring interior running by the quarterback and fullback.

With quarterback Bryson Dailey leading the way, the Black Knights lead the nation in rushing offense (371.2 yards) and are averaging 36.2 points (No. 30) and 444.5 total yards (39) through four games.

Daly rushed for 152 yards and three touchdowns while fullback Kanye Udoh added 128 yards and one score as Army blew out Temple, 42-14, on Thursday night.