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THIS WEEK: No. 1-ranked North Dakota State (10-0, 7-0 MVFC) closes out the regular season with a Senior Day game against Southern Illinois (2-8, 1-6 MVFC) on Saturday, Nov. 17. Game time is 2:30 p.m. at Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome (18,700).
 
TELEVISION: Coverage begins at 2:30 p.m. on KVLY and the NBC North Dakota network with play-by-play voice Brian Shawn, analyst Lee Timmerman and sideline reporter Ryan Gellner. Pregame coverage hosted by Alex Egan and Beth Hoole begins 1 hour prior to kickoff. ESPN+ will carry the game on ESPN.com and the ESPN app with subscriptions starting at $4.99/month.
 
RADIO: Coverage begins at 2 p.m. on the Peterson Farms Seed Bison Radio Network with third-year NDSU play-by-play voice Jeff Culhane joined by NDSU and Buffalo Bills hall of famer Phil Hansen and NDSU sideline reporter Jeremy Jorgenson. Extended coverage locally on 107.9 The Fox, Bison 1660 and 92.7 FM includes "Bison Tailgate" from 11 a.m. to noon with Brad Jones, "Bison Game Day" from noon to 2 p.m. and "Bison Hotline" for two hours following the network broadcast with hosts Keith Brake, Chris Hanson and former NDSU defensive end Cole Jirik.
 
ONLINE: NDSU All Access offers free audio streaming of all NDSU football games as well as live video of Bison home games to subscribers on GoBison.com/allaccess. Live stats for NDSU home games are available on BisonStats.com. Follow @NDSUfootball on Twitter for game updates.
 
TICKETS: Available single-game tickets go on sale at 6 a.m. Friday before each Bison home game ONLINE ONLY at GoBison.com/tickets. Game day ticket sales and will call are available in the east lobby of the Fargodome beginning five hours prior to kickoff.
 
THE SERIES: This is the 11th meeting between North Dakota State and Southern Illinois dating back to 1963. NDSU has won six straight and leads the series 7-3. The teams have not met since 2015 due to the conference scheduling rotation. SIU is 0-4 at the Fargodome.
 
LAST MEETING: North Dakota State rushed for 397 yards in quarterback Easton Stick's second career start as the Bison beat Southern Illinois 35-29 in Carbondale on Oct. 31, 2015. King Frazier had a career-high 177 yards and Stick a then career-high 130 yards both on 16 carries. The Bison averaged 8.1 yards per play and had four plays of more than 50 yards including RJ Urzendowski's 77-yard touchdown reception and Frazier's 50-yard TD run. NDSU held the Salukis to a season-low 398 yards of total offense and stiffened in the red zone to force three SIU field goals. Linebacker Nick DeLuca made a career-high 20 tackles, Robbie Grimsley added 10 tackles, and CJ Smith had an interception and three pass breakups to go with eight tackles and a sack. All-MVFC first team quarterback Mark Iannotti went 28 of 45 passing for 277 yards and one TD while leading SIU's ground game with 24 carries for 83 yards and a score.
 
SENIOR DAY: Saturday will be the final regular-season home game for 24 NDSU seniors who will be introduced prior to the game. It is NDSU's largest senior class, topping the 23 who played their final game in 2013. This year's class includes 20 fifth-year seniors who were part of Chris Klieman's first recruiting class as NDSU head coach in 2014, three who played as true freshmen in 2015—safety Robbie Grimsley, running back Bruce Anderson and kicker Cam Pedersen—and one transfer. Since 2015, the Bison are 49-5 overall including 30-3 at home and 28-3 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference with four league titles. NDSU won national championships in 2015 and 2017 and has a 10-1 record in the FCS playoffs.
 
SELECTION SUNDAY: The 24-team field for the NCAA Division I football championship will be announced in a selection show on ESPNU this Sunday, Nov. 18, beginning at 11:30 a.m. Winners of the eight first-round games Saturday, Nov. 24, advance to face the top eight seeds in the second round Saturday, Dec. 1.
 
BISON ROUT MISSOURI STATE: MVFC Offensive Player of the Week Easton Stick threw an NDSU record-tying five touchdown passes—all in the first half—as the Bison beat Missouri State 48-7 to claim a fourth outright Missouri Valley Football Conference title and second in a row. Stick completed his first 11 passes and finished 15 of 24 passing for 238 yards. Tight end Ben Ellefson caught his team-leading fifth and sixth touchdowns from 29 and 5 yards, Dallas Freeman (29 yards) and Nate Jenson (43) caught their first touchdowns of the season, and Lance Dunn added a 27-yard TD as the Bison built a 34-0 halftime lead. Adam Cofield added touchdown runs from 14 yards and 5 yards in the third quarter for NDSU, which had nine players combine for 245 yards on the ground. Seth Wilson, playing his first game of the year, led all rushers with 95 yards on eight attempts.
 
10-WIN MARK: North Dakota State is the first team in FCS to reach the 10-win mark this season, and the Bison have done it for an eighth straight season. NDSU's eight 10-win seasons this decade are the most in FCS ahead of Sam Houston State (6), Eastern Washington (4), Jacksonville State (4), Wofford (3) and Lehigh (3).
 
UNBEATEN SEASONS: Eleven teams have gone unbeaten in Missouri Valley Football Conference games since 1985, and only North Dakota State (2013) and Southern Illinois (2009) have done it with an eight-game conference schedule. There have been 14 undefeated NDSU teams since 1894 with the last being the 2013 national champions (15-0). Additionally, Bison teams went unbeaten in the regular season before postseason losses in 1967 (Pecan Bowl) and 1982 (Division II semifinal). NDSU is the only team in MVFC history to win its first seven overall games in back-to-back seasons, and the Bison have done it twice in 2013 (15-0), 2014 (9-0), 2017 (8-0) and 2018 (10-0).
 
STICK SECOND ON FCS QUARTERBACK WINS LIST: North Dakota State's Easton Stick upped his record to 44-3 as starting quarterback, the second most wins in FCS history behind NDSU's Brock Jensen, who went 47-5 as a starter with 48 total wins from 2010-13.
        Most Wins by FCS Quarterbacks
        48 - Brock Jensen, North Dakota State (2010-13)
        44 - Easton Stick, North Dakota State (2015-18)
        43 - Armanti Edwards, Appalachian State (2006-09)
        42 - J.R. Revere, Georgia Southern (1998-01)
        41 - Eric Ward, Richmond (2006-09)
 
STICK TOPS NDSU TOTAL OFFENSE RECORD: Quarterback Easton Stick broke the NDSU career record for total offense at Missouri State reaching 9,978 career yards and passing Brock Jensen's mark of 9,838 yards from 2010-13. Stick previously broke NDSU career records for passing touchdowns (79, fifth in MVFC history) and total touchdowns (113, fourth among active FCS players). He remains second on the NDSU career lists for passing attempts, completions and yards, and is second in MVFC history for quarterback rushing yards.

PEDERSEN BREAKS PAT, SCORING RECORDS: NDSU's Cam Pedersen last week at Missouri State broke the conference record for career PATs made and the NDSU career record for points by kick. Pedersen has converted 71 straight PAT attempts and made 231 in his career, topping the MVFC mark of 229 set by Craig Coffin of Southern Illinois in 2006. Pedersen's 360 career points are most among all active FCS players, 11th all-time among FCS kickers, eighth in MVFC history, third all-time at NDSU, and broke the NDSU kicking record of 359 set by Adam Keller in 2014.
 
LONGEST WINNING STREAKS: North Dakota State owns the longest active winning streak in the FCS at 16 games, which is second longest in Missouri Valley Football Conference history behind the 33-game Bison winning streak from 2012 to 2014. Colgate is 9-0 and has won 14 straight, and Princeton is the third remaining unbeaten in FCS with a 9-0 record tied with Kennesaw State's nine-game winning streak. UCF (22) and Alabama (12) have the two longest active winning streaks in FBS. NDSU's 15-game home winning streak is second longest in the FCS behind San Diego's 21.
 
MAKING THE PASSING GAME COUNT: North Dakota State ranks ninth in the conference in passing yards, but the Bison are making the attempts count. NDSU is second in passing efficiency and has three of the league's top five in yards per reception. Desmond Cain caught a career-long 50-yard pass against Youngstown State and is the MVFC leader with 22.3 yards/catch. Dallas Freeman is fourth (20.6) and running back Bruce Anderson is fifth (19.8). NDSU leading receiver Darrius Shepherd ranks 12th with 16.4 yards/catch and fourth in yards (738) and yards/game (73.8).
 
GRIMSLEY AMONG NDSU CAREER LEADERS: Senior Robbie Grimsley's 14 career interceptions rank second among FCS active players behind James Madison's Jimmy Moreland (15) and fourth all-time at NDSU behind Marcus Williams (21 from 2010-13), Steve Krumrei (16 from 1967-69) and Tre Dempsey (16 from 2014-17). Grimsley also ranks seventh at NDSU with 144 solo tackles, three shy of 10th-year NFL linebacker Ramon Humber's 147 solo stops from 2005-08.
 
NDSU, COX LEAD LEAGUE IN PICKS: Sophomore linebacker Jabril Cox is the conference co-leader with four interceptions and is tied for 16th in the FCS with 0.4 interceptions per game. Cox is one of eight players in FCS with two or more pick-sixes this season. NDSU has not had a linebacker lead the team in interceptions since Joe Mays had three in 2005. The Bison record for interceptions by a linebacker is five by Rick Budde in 1976. NDSU leads the conference with 15 picks (1.50/game), up slightly from last year's pace of 1.47/game when the Bison finished with 22 interceptions.
 
BISON AMONG PUNT LEADERS: NDSU ranks sixth in FCS in with 17.07 yards per punt return with return specialist Darrius Shepherd ranked third in FCS with an average of 19.2 yards per return. Shepherd's career punt return average of 14.00 is fourth best in school history. Meanwhile, punter Garret Wegner ranks eighth in FCS and is first in the league with a 43.6 punting average.
 
SHEPHERD TOP FIVE IN CATCHES, YARDS: Senior wide receiver Darrius Shepherd is ranked among the top five all-time at NDSU in pass receptions and yards. Shepherd's 171 receptions are third most behind Zach Vraa (195 from 2011-15) and Kole Heckendorf (178 from 2005-08) and Shepherd's 2,514 yards are fourth behind Vraa (2,957), Heckendorf (2,732) and TR McDonald (2,544 from 1990-93). Shepherd is eighth in career TD catches with 16 behind Heckendorf (17) and Eric Nelson (18 from 1997-00).
 
ACTIVE 2,000-YARD RUSHERS: North Dakota State is the only FCS team in the nation with three active 2,000-yard rushers. Lance Dunn (2,827) needs just 11 yards to move into the NDSU career top 10 rushing list. Bruce Anderson has 2,507 yards and Easton Stick (2,245) needs just 32 yards to break the conference record for rushing yards by a quarterback.
        MVFC Career Rushing Yards by QB
        2,276 - DeAndre Smith, Missouri State (1987-90)
        2,245 - Easton Stick, North Dakota State (2015-18)
        2,176 - Tirrell Rennie, Northern Iowa (2010-11)
        1,880 - Jeff Ryan, Youngstown State (1998-01)

        NDSU Career Rushing Yards by QB
        3,313 - Chris Simdorn (1987-90)
        2,945 - Jeff Bentrim (1983-86)
        2,473 - Kevin Feeney (1995-98)
        2,264 - Mark Speral (1977-80)
        2,245 - Easton Stick (2015-18)
 
TURNOVER MARGIN LEADERS: NDSU's plus-13 turnover margin is fourth in the FCS behind Southeast Missouri State (+21), Dartmouth (+17) and Princeton (+14). NDSU has scored a conference-best 94 points off 20 opponent turnovers.
 
RED ZONE SUCCESS: North Dakota State leads the MVFC in red zone defense this year allowing opponents inside the 20-yard line only 17 times with six touchdowns and two field goals. The Bison also lead the MVFC in red zone offense scoring on 37 of 40 chances with 33 TDs.
 
BISON LEAD LEAGUE IN SACKS: NDSU leads the Missouri Valley Football Conference with 33 sacks and the Bison rank eighth in FCS averaging 3.30 sacks/game. Greg Menard leads the Bison with 7.5 sacks. NDSU is first in the league (10) and 14th in FCS (1.00/game) for sacks allowed.
 
MENARD FOURTH IN CAREER SACKS: Defensive end Greg Menard is fourth in career sacks at NDSU with 37, four shy of the school record 41 total sacks held by Jerry Dahl (1973-74), Phil Hansen (1987-90) and Kyle Emanuel (2011-14). Menard is the FCS active career leader with 31.5 sacks counting solo and assisted sacks as defined by the NCAA. (NDSU's records pre-date NCAA defensive stats and are counted by total sacks.)
 
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: North Dakota State has had seven players earn 10 Player of the Week awards in the Missouri Valley Football Conference this year.
        —Bruce Anderson, Offense (9/2)..Rushed 11 times for a career-high 185 yards averaging 16.8 yards per carry with two touchdowns against Cal Poly...Scored on runs of 10 and 86 yards...Finished with 239 all-purpose yards including kickoff returns of 23 and 24 yards and one reception.
        —Tanner Volson, Offensive Line (9/4, 10/29)...Four knockdowns with zero sacks or hurries in each of the wins over Cal Poly and South Dakota...Graded 100% on assignment both games...NDSU rushed for 458 yards and seven TDs averaging 10.2 yards per carry vs. Cal Poly...Season-high 560 yards of total offense at USD with five rushing TDs and 8.0 yards per carry.
        —Easton Stick, Offense (9/23, 10/7, 11/11)...Accounted for 321 yards of total offense and four TDs in the win over Delaware...Went 17 of 26 passing for 280 yards and rushed five times for 41 yards and two TDs...Completed nine passes for 179 yards and four TDs and ran for two TDs in the comeback win at Northern Iowa...School record-tying five TD passes all in the first half of win at Missouri State.
        —Dillon Radunz, Offensive Line (9/24)...Helped lead NDSU to 527 yards of offense against Delaware's No. 9-ranked defense...Coaching grade of 97% assignment and 82% technique with two explosive blocks...Team allowed zero sacks for the third straight week.
        —Garret Wegner, Special Teams (10/1)...Averaged 47.4 yards on five punts with three inside the 20 against South Dakota State...Booted a 49-yard punt out-of-bounds at the SDSU 2 with just 1:15 left before halftime...Launched a key 54-yarder to the SDSU 7 that led to a three-and-out on SDSU's final offensive possession.
        —James Hendricks, Defensive (10/14)...Two interceptions, one pass breakup and four tackles in the win at Western Illinois as the Bison forced five turnovers.
        —Darrius Shepherd, Special Teams (10/21)...Totaled 236 all-purpose yards against Illinois State including six catches for 126 yards and two punt returns for 103 yards...Had receptions of 55 and 44 yards on NDSU's first two drives and a 69-yard punt return to start the third quarter.
 
NATIONAL AWARD CANDIDATES: NDSU safety Robbie Grimsley and defensive end Greg Menard were named to the 25-man preseason watch list and linebacker Jabril Cox was added in November for the STATS FCS Buck Buchanan Award, presented annually to the FCS defensive player of the year. Bison quarterback Easton Stick and running back Bruce Anderson were nominated for the STATS FCS Walter Payton Award, presented to the FCS offensive player of the year.
 
SEVEN PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS: North Dakota State led all teams in the FCS with a school-record seven players named to the STATS FCS Preseason All-America team. Running back Bruce Anderson and safety Robbie Grimsley were named to the first team. Quarterback Easton Stick, center Tanner Volson and defensive end Greg Menard earned second-team honors. Offensive tackle Zack Johnson and linebacker Jabril Cox were on the third team.
 
LEAGUE-BEST 11 ON PRESEASON SQUAD: NDSU had a league-high 11 players named to the preseason All-Missouri Valley Football Conference teams. First-team offense picks were running back Bruce Anderson, fullback Brock Robbins, offensive tackle Zack Johnson and center Tanner Volson. Quarterback Easton Stick and receiver Darrius Shepherd were second team. First-team defense picks were defensive end Greg Menard, defensive tackle Aaron Steidl, linebacker Jabril Cox and safety Robbie Grimsley. Defensive end Derrek Tuszka was named to the second team.
 
EIGHT STRAIGHT CONFERENCE TITLES: NDSU won its eighth consecutive Missouri Valley Football Conference championship, topping the league record seven straight by Northern Iowa in the early 1990s. NDSU won outright MVFC titles in 2012, 2013, 2017 and 2018. North Dakota State has won 35 football conference championships including 26 in the North Central Conference (last in 1994) and one in the Great West Football Conference (2006).
        Most Consecutive Conference Titles in Division I Football
        14 - Oklahoma (Big 8, 1946-59)
        12 - Montana (Big Sky, 1998-09)
        10 - BYU (WAC, 1976-85)
        9 - Florida State (ACC, 1992-00)
        8 - Nebraska (Big 8, 1910-17)
        8 - North Dakota State (MVFC, 2011-18)
 
14-TIME NATIONAL CHAMPIONS: North Dakota State won its 14th football national championship in 2017. NDSU claimed three College Division national championships in 1965, 1968 and 1969, five Division II titles in 1983, 1985, 1986, 1988 and 1990, and was the first team in college football history to win five straight national titles with FCS crowns in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015.
 
BISON AT HOME: NDSU is 70-6 at home since 2010. The Bison have won 62 of the last 64 home games over non-conference opponents with its last home loss coming in the 2016 semifinals to James Madison. NDSU is 22-4 at home all-time against FCS Top 10 teams and 21-1 at home in the FCS playoffs. North Dakota State ranked seventh in FCS last year with an average home attendance of 18,333. The Bison drew 18,000-plus to 54 straight home contests from the 2011 quarterfinals through the 2017 second round.
 
DECADE LEADER:  North Dakota State's 116 wins this decade are more than any other program in college football. NDSU is 107-8 since the beginning of 2011, the first of five national championship seasons. North Dakota State holds the distinction of being the winningest Division II program of the 1980s, going 103-20-2 from 1980-89 with four national titles in that span.
        FCS Winningest Teams, 2010s (by wins)
        116 - North Dakota State (116-13)
        91 - Sam Houston State (91-32)
        86 - Eastern Washington (86-30)
        84 - Jacksonville State (84-26)
        80 - James Madison (80-32)

        FCS Winningest Teams, 2010s (by pct.)
        .899 - North Dakota State (116-13)
        .775 - Harvard (69-20)
        .764 - Jacksonville State (84-26)
        .740 - Sam Houston State (91-32)
        .741 - Eastern Washington (86-30)
 
MORE THAN 700 WINS: NDSU has played 1,125 games with a 720-371-34 record in its 122nd season of football, good for a .654 winning percentage. Only four Ivy League teams each with at least 20 more years of football have more wins at the FCS level: Yale (907), Harvard (874), Penn (856) and Princeton (830). Northern Iowa has the second most wins among Missouri Valley Football Conference programs with 668. NDSU's 107 victories since 2011 are more than any other team in Division I ahead of Alabama (99), Clemson (92), Ohio State (88) and Sam Houston State (85).
 
SUCCESS VS. THE FBS: NDSU has a 9-3 record against Football Bowl Subdivision opponents and has won six in a row against FBS foes since 2010 with wins at Kansas (6-3), Minnesota (37-24), Colorado State (22-7), Kansas State (24-21), Iowa State (34-14) and 11th-ranked Iowa (23-21). NDSU has three future FBS games against Oregon in 2020, Arizona in 2022 and Colorado in 2024. NDSU's first three FBS wins were against Ball State (2006), Central Michigan (2007) and Minnesota (2007).
 
TARGET FIELD TICKETS ON SALE: NDSU will host Butler in the 2019 football season opener at 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 31, at Target Field presented by Pioneer. Tickets for general seating range from $20 to $58 and are only available through the Minnesota Twins at the Target Field box office or TwinsBaseball.com/football. Student tickets will be made available at a later date through NDSU.