Fargo, North Dakota — A share of the Missouri Valley Football Conference title and the Dakota Marker will be at stake Saturday afternoon, when South Dakota State and North Dakota State meet in a top-five Football Championship Subdivision matchup.
Kickoff for the 2020-21 regular season finale is set for 2:30 p.m. at the Fargodome in Fargo, North Dakota.
South Dakota State will be playing its first game in nearly a month. The Jackrabbits ran their record to 4-1 both overall and in the MVFC with a 44-3 win at then-No. 5 Southern Illinois in their last outing on March 20. SDSU, ranked fourth this week in both the Stats Perform media poll and AFCA FCS coaches’ poll, ran for a season-high 392 yards in the contest at SIU and forced four Saluki turnovers.
SDSU had subsequent games against Illinois State (March 27) and South Dakota (April 10) canceled, and this week’s meeting against NDSU was originally scheduled to be played April 3.
North Dakota State, meanwhile, returned from a two-week layoff to hold off Northern Iowa for a 23-20 road victory last Saturday. The Bison, 6-1 overall and 5-1 in the MVFC, are ranked second in this week’s media poll and third in the coaches’ poll.
SDSU, NDSU, North Dakota and Missouri State all enter the week with one loss in league play. Missouri State (5-1) is idle this week, while North Dakota (4-1) plays at Youngstown State on Saturday.
