FARGO, N.D. - Cole Payton passed for the third-most yards in school history to lead No. 1-ranked North Dakota State to a 41-14 victory over Southeast Missouri State on Saturday, Sept. 13, before a crowd of 17,354 at Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome.

Payton finished 16 of 23 passing for 348 yards and threw four touchdowns in the first half. He added 11 carries for 53 yards and one second-half rushing touchdown for the Bison (3-0), who won their 200th home game since beginning play in the Fargodome in the 1993 season.

Bryce Lance made four receptions for a career-high 159 yards including a 75-yard touchdown run midway through the first quarter to break a 7-7 tie. Lance caught the pass near the line of scrimmage and used a block from wide receiver Logan Conklin to reach the sideline and outran two defenders to the goal line.

RaJa Nelson had four catches for 41 yards including TD passes of 15 and 5 yards, and Mekhi Collins hauled in a 28-yard touchdown pass as the Bison opened up a 31-14 halftime lead. NDSU's Barika Kpeenu led all rushers with 14 carries for 84 yards.

Nathaniel Staehling made a team-high seven tackles, Donovan Woolen had six tackles including two tackles for loss and one of NDSU's four sacks, and Jaquise Alexander had two tackles to go with his second career interception.

NDSU had a 562 to 217 advantage in total yards with SEMO getting 65 of those yards on a touchdown pass from Jax Leatherwood to Kalvin Gilbert on the Redhawks' opening drive. Leatherwood finished 12 of 23 passing for 145 yards.

North Dakota State is off until Saturday, Sept. 27, when the Bison open Missouri Valley Football Conference play against South Dakota in the annual homecoming game scheduled for 1 p.m. at Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome.