FARGO, N.D.--Rodney Thompson came up with a safety and Kole Zimmerman picked off a pass to seal North Dakota State's hard-fought 26-13 win over stubborn, Nicholls State  Saturday, Oct. 1, before a Trees Bowl crowd of 14,022 at the Fargodome. The Bison improved to 13-2 in Trees Bowl games.

No. 11-ranked North Dakota State (4-1) is scheduled to open Great West Football Conference play at defending league champion No. 10 Cal Poly (4-1) at 8 p.m. (CDT) in San Luis Obispo, Calif. Cal Poly defeated Northern Colorado 31-14 in Greeley.

Thompson's safety came with 5:17 left in the fourth quarter when he chased down Nicholls State quarterback Yale Vannoy in the end zone.

Thompson's safety, Zimmerman's second career interception and Steve Walker's 19-yard fourth quarter touchdown pass to Andy DelaBarre stopped a methodical, bone-jarring comeback by Nicholls State after the Bison built a 17-0 halftime lead.

Kyle Steffes capped an eight play, 80-yard drive with a 2-yard run to put North Dakota State ahead 7-0 with 3:37 left in the first quarter. Steffes completed the evening with 22 carries for 102 yards, his fourth 100-yard effort of the season and the 10th of his career. He moved to No. 12 all-time on the NDSU rushing charts and has 430 carries for 2,183 yards, moving past Bruce Reimer (1970-74, 531-2,095 yards), Mike Kasowski (1978-81, 401-2100 yards) and Tim Mjos (1967-69, 423-2143).

Following a Nicholls State (1-2) punt, Walker hooked up with Tyler Jangula on a 15-yard scoring pass as North Dakota State needed five plays to cover 59 yards and extend the lead to14-0 with 14:46 remaining in the second quarter. Shamen Washington gained 39 of his 61 yards rushing to highlight the scoring drive. Washington also added 32 yards on three punt returns and a 42-yard kickoff return to provide 135 all-purpose yards.

Cory Vartanian nailed a 22-yard field goal with 9:28 left in the second period to put NDSU ahead 17-0 at halftime.

Nicholls State rallied back, holding the ball for 9-1/2 minutes in the third quarter. The Colonels took advantage of the running of Joseph Tobias and Broderick Cole to cover 80 yards in 11 plays to cut the deficit to 17-7 on a Cole 1 yard run at the 6:35 mark of the third quarter. Tobias rushed for 46 yards during that drive, while Cole added 20.

The Nicholls State offense continued to roll in the fourth quarter after a Mike Dragosavich punt pinned the Colonels at the 6 yard line. Zach Morgan sparked the NSU offense with a pair of long runs including a 24-yard scamper, while Tobias finished the 13-play, 94-yard drive that lasted nearly six minutes with a 15-yard TD run up the middle.

North Dakota State regained control following the ensuing kickoff. Walker connected on all three passes during the drive and also rushed twice for 12 yards, and Washington and Steffes were both productive with a pair of handoffs. Walker hit DelaBarre with a 19-yard touchdown pass to provide the Bison with a 24-13 cushion with 5:27 left.

Walker completed 10 of 17 passes for 95 yards, finding six different receivers open. Vannoy was 7 of 16 for 48 yards and one interception.

Nicholls State rushed 49 times for 249 yards led by Tobias, who finished with 97 yards on 13 carries. Cole rushed 17 times to 75 yards. The Colonels held a 297-290 edge in total offense and 31:36 to 28:24 advantage in time of possession. However, North Dakota State started six drives inside NSU territory and had an average field position of the NDSU 47-yard line. The Bison were 4 of 5 in the red zone.

North Dakota State's defense was sparked by the career-high 14 tackles by linebacker Joe Mays, while Thompson had nine tackles including two tackles for loss of 10 yards, one sack and one pass breakup. Alvin Robinson, Craig Dahl and Justin Frick were each credited with eight tackles. Dragosavich punted five times for an average of 47.4 yards per pick including three touchbacks and two inside the NSU 20-yard line.

Linebacker Cory Vavala led the Nicholls State defense with 12 tackles, while Naton Stewart had seven stops. Henry Johnson added five tackles and a pair of pass breakups.