THIS WEEK: The North Dakota State football team closes out the regular season this week when the No. 9-ranked Bison (7-3, 4-3 MVFC) play 22nd-ranked Northern Iowa at 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 18, at the UNI-Dome (16,324) in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The Panthers (6-4, 5-2 MVFC) are alone in third place in the Missouri Valley Football Conference one game ahead of NDSU, which is tied for fourth with North Dakota, Illinois State and Youngstown State.

  TELEVISION: The statewide ABC network of WDAY (Fargo), WDAZ (Grand Forks), KBMY (Bismarck/Dickinson) and KMCY (Minot/Williston) will have live coverage beginning at 3:50 p.m. with Dom Izzo (play-by-play), Kyle Emanuel (analyst) and Logan Campbell (sideline). UNI's telecast will be available to ESPN+ subscribers on ESPN.com and the ESPN app.

  RADIO: Statewide network coverage begins at 3 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 56th meeting between North Dakota State and Northern Iowa dating back to 1938. NDSU leads the all-time series 29-26 and has won eight straight including a 34-20 victory in Fargo in 2021. The teams did not play in 2022 due to the Missouri Valley Football Conference scheduling rotation. The Bison have an 11-4 edge in the series as Division I opponents since joining the MVFC in 2008, including a 4-3 record in the UNI-Dome.

  LAST WEEK: North Dakota State scored 21 unanswered points in the second half to beat 11th-ranked Southern Illinois 34-10 last week in Fargo. NDSU had eight ball carriers combine to rush for 217 yards, the most allowed this season by SIU, which entered with the nation's No. 3-ranked defense. TaMerik Williams led the Bison with 51 carries and two touchdowns on eight carries, and Cam Miller and TK Marshall each scored on the ground for NDSU. Miller was 15 of 19 passing for 232 yards, including third-down conversions of 52 yards to Braylon Henderson and 40 yards to Eli Green, while RaJa Nelson led the Bison with four receptions for 81 yards plus four carries for 45 yards. Jake Kava had 2.5 sacks and Cole Wisniewski made a game-high nine tackles.

  SELECTION SHOW SUNDAY: The bracket for the 24-team NCAA Division I Football Championship will be revealed in an ESPNU selection show starting at 11:30 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 19. North Dakota State is seeking its 14th straight postseason appearance dating back to 2010. First round games are Saturday, Nov. 25, and the top eight seeds will have byes before hosting second-round games Saturday, Dec. 2. The national championship is scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 7, at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas.
        Most Consecutive FCS Playoff Appearances
        17 - Montana, 1993-2009
        14 - New Hampshire, 2004-2017
        13 - North Dakota State, 2010-2022
        11 - South Dakota State, 2012-2022
        10 - Eastern Kentucky, 1986-1995

  14 SENIORS: Prior to the Southern Illinois game, North Dakota State introduced 14 seniors who were playing their final regular-season home game. The 14 were defensive end Jake Kava, offensive linemen Jake Kubas, Jalen Sundell and Brandon Westberg, 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.

  THE COIN TOSS: North Dakota State has won 38 of 66 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 five times, including the last three tosses they've won against Western Illinois, Murray State and Southern Illinois. Entz's teams are 5-0 when taking the ball first. The other two games were the 2019 season opener at Target Field against Butler and in 2021 at Illinois State.

  OPENING DRIVES: NDSU has scored on its first offensive possession all 10 games this year with eight touchdowns and two field goals. The Bison have started the second half with points on their first possession in 7 of 10 games with six touchdowns and one field goal.

  NATIONAL LEADERS: North Dakota State continues to lead the FCS in passing completion percentage through 10 games at 72.5 percent, and the Bison are second in third-down conversions (.513) and red-zone scoring (.935). NDSU is fourth in rushing offense (240.6 ypg) and passing efficiency (164.75), fifth in time of possession (33:39) and total defense (286.0 ypg), and eighth in total offense (447.0 ypg).

  MILLER SETS RECORD: Quarterback Cam Miller ranks second in the FCS with a .744 completion percentage through 10 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).

  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.

  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 (175-for-177) and his career PAT percentage of 98.9 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 35 field goals made and ranks first with an 81.4 career field goal percentage (35-for-43).

  PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: North Dakota State has had five players earn six 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.
        – Jake Kubas, Offensive Line (11/13)...Graded 90% with no TFLs or sacks allowed as NDSU rushed for 217 yards and four TDs against the third-ranked defense of Southern Illinois.

  SHRINE BOWL INVITE: North Dakota State left tackle Jalen Sundell has been invited to the East-West Shrine Bowl, one of college football's top all-star games. Sundell was NDSU's starter at center the past three seasons before moving to left tackles this year. NDSU has had 14 former players participate in the Shrine Bowl, including current Bengals offensive lineman Cordell Volson (2022) and Chargers quarterback Easton Stick (2019).

  WATCH LISTS: NDSU has three players on watch lists for national player of the year awards. Running back TaMerik Williams s 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 188-29 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.