THIS WEEK: The North Dakota State football team plays its final home game of the regular season at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 11, when the Bison host Southern Illinois in the annual Harvest Bowl game at Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome (18,700). Both teams are 6-3 overall and tied for sixth place in the Missouri Valley Football Conference with 3-3 records.
 
TICKETS: Tickets may be purchased online at GoBison.com/tickets or by calling the Bison Ticket Office in the south lobby of the Sanford Health Athletic Complex at (701) 231-6378 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Game day ticket sales at the Fargodome begin 5 hours prior to kickoff.
 
TOY DRIVE: The North Dakota State University Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) will be continuing its annual holiday toy drive at Saturday's football game. Bison student-athletes will be collecting new, unwrapped toys and monetary donations in the east lobby of the Fargodome with all gifts supporting the Standing Rock Reservation.
 
WHITE OUT FOR WARRIORS: Fans are encouraged to join the NDSU football staff in wearing white to Saturday's game for the "White Out for Warriors" in recognition of Veterans Day and Operation Hat Trick, which supports the recovery of wounded service members and veterans through the sale of OHT-branded merchandise. Officially licensed NDSU and OHT merchandise is available through Scheels and the NDSU Bookstore.
 
TELEVISION: The statewide ABC network of WDAY (Fargo), WDAZ (Grand Forks), KBMY (Bismarck/Dickinson) and KMCY (Minot/Williston) will have live coverage beginning at 2:20 p.m. with Dom Izzo (play-by-play), Kyle Emanuel (analyst) and Logan Campbell (sideline). The telecast will also be available to ESPN+ subscribers on ESPN.com and the ESPN app.
 
RADIO: Statewide network coverage begins at 1:30 p.m. on the Pioneer Seeds Bison Sports Network including Bison 1660 and 107.9 The Fox in Fargo with Sam Neidermann (play-by-play), Phil Hansen (analyst) and James Hendricks (sideline). The network broadcast includes 1-hour pregame and 30-minute postgame shows. Streaming is available on GoBison.com/allaccess and the NDSU Athletics mobile app.
 
THE SERIES: This is the 16th meeting between North Dakota State and Southern Illinois. NDSU leads the series 11-4 and the Bison have won two straight, including a 21-18 victory in Carbondale last season. NDSU has won all six previous matchups in the Fargodome.
 
HARVEST BOWL: This is the 48th Harvest Bowl game, which dates back to 1974. North Dakota State is 43-2-2 in the Harvest Bowl and has won 12 straight including last year's 42-21 victory over North Dakota. Southern Illinois is making its second Harvest Bowl appearance. The Salukis lost the 2012 game 23-17.
 
SENIOR DAY: Prior to Saturday's game, North Dakota State will introduce 13 seniors who are playing in their final regular-season home game. The list includes defensive end Jake Kava, offensive linemen Jake Kubas and Jalen Sundell, wide receivers Jake Lippe, Zach Mathis and Giancarlo Volpentesta, cornerbacks Jenaro Ocama and Jayden Price, linebackers Cade Powers, Dylan Taves and Julian Wlodarczyk, tight end Jacob Streit, and running back TaMerik Williams.
 
HIGHLY RANKED DEFENSE, OFFENSE MEET: Southern Illinois has the No. 3 defense in the FCS through nine games allowing just 272.2 yards per contest. SIU is also third in rushing defense (83.3 ypg), fifth in sacks (3.2/game) and fifth in scoring defense (16.3 ppg). Meanwhile, NDSU's offense is among the FCS leaders both rushing and passing. The Bison are No. 4 in rushing offense (243.2 ypg) and completion percentage (.720), fifth in pass efficiency (163.27), and No. 3 in third-down conversions (.505) and red zone scoring (.929).
 
TOUGH ROAD TO THE FINISH: North Dakota State is on the road for two of its final three regular-season games, which all feature nationally ranked opponents. After playing at No. 1-ranked South Dakota State last week, NDSU this week hosts No. 11-ranked Southern Illinois before closing out the regular season on the road against Northern Iowa, which is ranked 15th this week after improving to 6-3 overall with three straight victories.
 
LAST WEEK: South Dakota State won the Dakota Marker for the fourth straight year beating North Dakota State 33-16 in Brookings last week. NDSU limited SDSU to four field goals, but three of those came after Bison turnovers as the Jackrabbits intercepted two passes and recovered a fumble. Cam Miller was 18 of 29 passing for 167 yards and Zach Mathis caught four passes for 39 yards including touchdown grabs of 1 and 10 yards. Eli Green, RaJa Nelson and TK Marshall each had four receptions. Safety Cole Wisniewski tied a career-high with 11 tackles to lead the NDSU defense, safety Sam Jung tied a career-high with eight tackles, and cornerback Jayden Price made a career-high six stops. Defensive end Dylan Hendricks had two tackles for loss including a sack.
 
THE COIN TOSS: North Dakota State has won 37 of 65 pregame coin tosses since 2019 under head coach Matt Entz. The Bison have deferred their choice to the second half 33 times and elected to receive the ball four times, including each of the past two weeks against Western Illinois and Murray State. The other two games were the 2019 season opener at Target Field against Butler and in 2021 at Illinois State. Entz's teams are 4-0 when electing to take the ball first, and 24-4 overall when receiving the opening kickoff. Meanwhile, NDSU is 4-0 when opponents win the toss and elect to receive, beating Western Illinois in the Fargodome in 2019, South Dakota in the Fargodome in 2019 and 2021, and Eastern Washington in the 2023 season opener at U.S. Bank Stadium.
 
PRICE TIES PUNT RETURN RECORD: All-America punt returner Jayden Price tied the NDSU career record with his fourth career punt return touchdown, a 66-yard run against Murray State. Richard Lewis set the school record with four punt return TDs in 2000 and 2001.
 
TRUE FRESHMEN: North Dakota State has played five true freshmen this season. Kicker Eli Ozick, cornerback Najee Nelson and running back Kelly Watson made their debuts against Western Illinois. Cornerbacks Jaylin Crumby and Jailen Duffie played their first game against Murray State. Players may participate in up to four regular-season games without using a year of eligibility. New this year, FCS postseason games are exempt and will not count toward the four-game rule.
 
MILLER SETS RECORD: Quarterback Cam Miller leads the FCS with a .739 completion percentage through nine games. Miller was 18-for-19 against Central Arkansas and his 94.7 completion rate was an NDSU single-game record for passers with more than 10 attempts. Miller completed his last 17 attempts against UCA and his first six against South Dakota to set a new NDSU record with 23 consecutive completions, breaking Brock Jensen's 2013 record of 21 straight against Kansas State (14) and Ferris State (7).
 
CROSA CONNECTS: Bison kicker Griffin Crosa had a streak of 127 consecutive PAT conversions snapped when South Dakota State blocked his first attempt of the game. The streak, dating back to 2019, was the third longest in Missouri Valley Football Conference history. Crosa is fourth all-time at NDSU in PATs made and attempted (171-for-173) and his career PAT percentage of 98.8 is second in school history behind Jake Reinholz, who was 87-for-87 from 2018 to 2021. Crosa is fifth all-time at NDSU with 33 field goals made and ranks first with an 80.5 career field goal percentage (33-for-41).
 
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: North Dakota State has had four players earn five Missouri Valley Football Conference Player of the Week honors in 2023:
        – Cole Wisniewski, Defense (9/4)...Game- and career-high 11 tackles with his first career interception and one pass breakup against Eastern Washington in his first game at strong safety.
        – Kaedin Steindorf, Special Teams (9/4)...Averaged 47.2 yards per punt with three inside the 20 (two inside the 10) and held for five PAT conversions against Eastern Washington.
        – Griffin Crosa, Special Teams (9/11)...Converted field goals from 27, 40 and 31 yards to stake the Bison to a 9-0 lead and added five extra-point kicks in the 44-7 win over Maine.
        – Logan Kopp, Defense (10/9, 10/30)...Nine tackles, two pass breakups, fumble forced and recovered in the 38-10 win at Missouri State...Seven tackles, 1.5 TFLs, a half-sack, forced fumble and interception in the 38-6 win over Murray State.
 
SUNDELL ON SENIOR BOWL LIST: North Dakota State left tackle Jalen Sundell was named to the preseason watch list for the Reese's Senior Bowl, widely regarded as the top college football all-star game. Sundell the past three seasons has been NDSU's starting center, a position he hadn't played prior to the 2020-21 season. The Bison have had 12 players selected to the Senior Bowl, including left tackle Cody Mauch last year.
 
WATCH LISTS: NDSU has three players on watch lists for national player of the year awards. Running back TaMerik Williams is on the preseason list for the Walter Payton Award, presented to the FCS offensive player of the year. Defensive tackle Eli Mostaert is on the preseason list for the Buck Buchanan Award, presented to the FCS defensive player of the year. Punter Kaedin Steindorf is on the list for FCS Punter of the Year.
 
PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS: NDSU defensive tackle Eli Mostaert, long snapper Hunter Brozio, offensive lineman Jalen Sundell and running back TaMerik Williams were named to the Stats Perform FCS Preseason All-America Team. Mostaert was also named to the HERO Sports All-FCS preseason team, and Mostaert and Sundell made Phil Steele's FCS Preseason All-America Team.
 
BISON PICKED NO. 2: North Dakota State was picked to finish second in the Missouri Valley Football Conference behind defending national champion South Dakota State. NDSU took 14 spots on the MVFC preseason team, including four first-team picks in FB Hunter Brozio, OL Jalen Sundell, DL Eli Mostaert and RS Jayden Price. Second team picks were RB TaMerik Williams, TE Joe Stoffel, OL Jake Kubas and Brandon Westberg, DL Will Mostaert, LB Cole Wisniewski, CB Jayden Price and K Griffin Crosa. WR Zach Mathis and LB Nick Kubitz were honorable mention.
 
NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS: North Dakota State is 79-4 against non-conference opponents since the beginning of its first FCS national championship season in 2011. One loss was to a Pac-12 opponent (31-28 at Arizona in 2021) and two were in the playoffs to the eventual national champion (27-17 to James Madison in 2016 and 24-20 at Sam Houston State in 2020-21). Montana's 38-35 home win in the 2015 FCS Kickoff is NDSU's only other non-conference loss the past 12 years.
 
BISON AT HOME: The Bison have a 186-29 record in the Fargodome, 33-6 at home against FCS Top 10 ranked teams, and winners of 81 of the last 83 home games over non-conference opponents. North Dakota State has a 34-1 record in the Fargodome during the NCAA playoffs since 2010 with the only loss coming to eventual national champion James Madison in the 2016 semifinals. NDSU's 32-game home winning streak September 2017 through April 2021 was fourth longest in FCS history.