CEDAR CITY, Utah -- Kyle Steffes rushed for 149 yards and two touchdowns to lead North Dakota State to a 37-21 victory over Southern Utah in a Great West Football Conference football game played Saturday, Oct. 29, before 1,621 at Eccles Stadium. The Bison snapped a two-game losing streak with the win.

North Dakota State (5-3, 1-2 Great West) scored 27 points off Southern Utah turnovers, and controlled the line of scrimmage and the clock in the second half. NDSU is scheduled host the University of Northern Colorado (3-4, 0-2 GWFC) in the 32nd annual Harvest Bowl at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 5 in the Fargodome.

Southern Utah (1-6, 1-2) gave up an interception and a fumble before the first quarter was three minutes old. The Bison capitalized with two touchdowns in a 20-second span, including Justin Frick's 17-yard return of a fumble recovery. Steve Walker connected on a 24-yard scoring pass to Tyler Jangula for the first score with 12:57 left following a Nick Schommer interception. NDSU forced four turnovers, while committing one.

The Thunderbirds got back into the game on Zac Connors 4-yard touchdown pass to Joey Hew Len midway through the first quarter and Wes Marshall's 1-yard touchdown run early in the second.

But, North Dakota State drove 80 yards on 15 plays and regained the lead on Steffes' first touchdown, a 1-yard run with 5:33 left in the first half. Steffes, who was held to eight yards on 13 carries last week, reached the 100-yard mark for the fifth time this season and 11th in his career on a career-high 35 carries.

With 2,433 career yards on 501 carries, Steffes moved up two places into No. 8 on the NDSU all-time rushing chart. He passed Paul Hatchett (387-2,309, 1967-69) and Doug Lloyd (340-2,410, 1985-88). Steffes has rushed 180 times for 802 yards this season.

Two plays later, the Thunderbirds' Jerome Eason fumbled at the Bison 31, and North Dakota State's Scott Walter recovered. Steffes carried six times on the ensuing drive, including a 1-yard scoring run with 1:01 left in the half.

Cory Vartarian's 45-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter and Cinque Chapman's 29-yard touchdown run with 3:35 to play put the game out of reach.

Marshall threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Hew Len with a minute left.

North Dakota State held the ball for nearly 36 minutes in the contest, including 10:42 in the second quarter and 11:04 in the fourth quarter. The Bison rushed for 220 yards and had 362 yards of total offense compared to 334 for Southern Utah.

Walker completed 12 of 30 passes for 142 yards and was not sacked. Jangula caught four passes for 63 yards, while Nick Jackson made two receptions for 35 yards and John Majeski had a pair of catches for 26 yards. Chapman added seven rushing attempts for 52 yards.

Defensively, the Bison were led by Kole Zimmerman's team-high eight tackles. Frick had six tackles including a sack, a pass breakup and the fumble recovery. Punter Mike Dragosavich was a weapon as well, punting six times for an average of 49.2 yards per attempt. Dragosavich matched a career-high with a 63-yard effort. He had two touchbacks, one inside the 20 and a net average of 44.5 yards per kick.

Connors completed 16 of 31 passes for 176 yards with a touchdown and interception. Marshall hit 6 of 7 passes for 56 yards, a TD and interception. Hew Len caught four passes for 39 yards. Defensively, the Thunderbirds were led by Josh Raban's 14 tackles, while Steve Smith had 12.