THIS WEEK: The No. 2-ranked North Dakota State football team is on the road for its next two games beginning this weekend when the first-place Bison (8-0, 5-0 MVFC) travel to face ninth-ranked South Dakota State (6-2, 3-2 MVFC). Game time is 2 p.m. at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium (19,300) in Brookings, S.D.
 
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 p.m. with Dom Izzo calling the play-by-play, Kyle Emanuel as color analyst, and Logan Campbell reporting. South Dakota State's television broadcast on Midco Sports will be available to ESPN+ subscribers on ESPN.com and the ESPN app.
 
RADIO: Coverage begins at 1 p.m. on the Peterson Farms Seed Bison Radio Network including 107.9 The Fox in Fargo with Jeff Culhane (play-by-play), Phil Hansen (analyst) and Cole Jirik (sideline). Extended coverage locally on Bison 1660 and 92.7 FM includes "Bison Tailgate" from 10:00-11:00, "Bison Game Day" from 11:00-1:00 and the "Bison Hotline" call-in show following the network broadcast.
 
ONLINE: NDSU All Access offers subscription video streaming for home games and free audio streams for all NDSU football games through GoBison.com/allaccess and the NDSU Athletics mobile app. Live in-game statistics will be available on BisonStats.com. Follow along with in-game updates on Twitter @NDSUfootball.
 
THE SERIES: This is the 112th meeting between North Dakota State and South Dakota State dating back to 1903. NDSU leads the all-time series 63-43-5 and the Bison have won 14 of 21 matchups as Division I opponents since 2004, including four NCAA playoff games. SDSU snapped a three-game losing streak in the series with last spring's 27-17 win in Fargo, which cut NDSU's lead in the Dakota Marker series to 10-7.
 
DAKOTA MARKER: North Dakota State and South Dakota State have played for the Dakota Marker annually since 2004 when the two teams began NCAA Division I competition. The trophy is a 75-pound model replica of the original quartzite monuments that were placed at half-mile intervals along the state border in the summers of 1891 and 1892. It is inscribed with N.D. and S.D. on opposite sides and 190 M, the number of miles between the two schools. NDSU has won 10 of 17 meetings for the marker. Postseason games are not included in the trophy series.
 
THE LAST MEETING: South Dakota State snapped North Dakota State's 32-game home winning streak with a 27-17 victory in Fargo last April, which clinched SDSU's automatic qualifier to the FCS playoffs. SDSU freshman quarterback Mark Gronowski was 10 of 14 passing for 149 yards and rushed for 126 yards, and Pierre Strong added 95 yards on the ground as the Jackrabbits ran 46 times for 305 yards, the most rushing yards against a Bison team since 2008. NDSU quarterback Cam Miller rushed for a pair of third-quarter TDs to tie the game 10-10 and 17-17 before the Jacks went ahead for good with Cole Frahm's 24-yard field goal with 7:55 to play. SDSU held the Bison to 97 rushing yards, which was the first time since 2014 NDSU finished under 100 rushing yards.
 
BISON LEVEL SYCAMORES IN TREES BOWL: Kobe Johnson rushed for a career-high 155 yards including a school-record 97-yard touchdown run as North Dakota State beat Indiana State 44-2 in the annual Trees Bowl game. Six players scored touchdowns as the Bison rolled up 477 yards of total offense. NDSU scored on its first five possessions to build a 30-0 halftime lead. Indiana State scored its only points on a blocked punt out of the end zone in the fourth quarter. Cordell Volson was named MVFC Offensive Lineman of the Week for his performance in the win.
 
DEFENSE RISES TO THE OCCASION: North Dakota State's defense held its opponent out of the end zone for the third time this season against Indiana State. Michael Tutsie led the Bison in tackles for the third straight week with a game-high eight stops. Tutsie assisted a tackle for loss on a fourth-and-1, stuffed another run for zero yards on third-and-1, and made a solo tackle on third-and-goal from the 1. Jackson Hankey followed that with a fourth-down stop at the 1. Marques Sigle recorded his first career interception and the Bison held Indiana State to 3 of 15 on third down.
 
EIGHT IN A ROW: NDSU, the only 8-0 team in FCS, is off to an 8-0 start for the eighth time in 18 years of Division I play. Coincidentally, the last time the Bison lost their ninth game of the season after an 8-0 start was NDSU's first trip to Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium in 2017, which South Dakota State won 33-21. The Bison are 5-0 in MVFC play for the seventh time since joining the league.
 
THE GREAT OUTDOORS: NDSU has a 12-2 record in outdoor games during the month of November since joining the Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2008 with the only losses coming in 2017 at South Dakota State (33-21) and 2010 at Missouri State (3-0). This is NDSU's second trip to SDSU for a November game in MVFC play. NDSU is 13-3 in November MVFC road games including a 2016 win at South Dakota (28-21) and 2015 loss at Northern Iowa (23-3) both played indoors.
 
OCTOBER SUCCESS: Counting the lone game of the fall last October against Central Arkansas, North Dakota State's 5-0 start in the Missouri Valley Football Conference extended NDSU's winning streak to 20 straight games in the month of October since the 19-17 home loss to South Dakota State on the 15th of October 2016.
 
VOLSON APPROACHING 60: Sixth-year senior offensive lineman Cordell Volson this week will become the 19th NDSU football player to appear in his 59th career game. Volson and defensive end Logan McCormick (52nd game) are NDSU's active leaders in games played. Appalachian State's Pierre Banks played in an NCAA-record 62 games from 2004-08, and NDSU defensive back Christian Dudzik is the NCAA record holder starting all 61 games of his NDSU career from 2011-14. Offensive tackle Joe Haeg is second with 60 starts from 2012-15. Only six players have participated in 60 or more games in Bison football history.
        NDSU Career Games Played
        61 - Andrew Bonnet, FB (2012-15)
        61 - Christian Dudzik, CB/S (2011-14)
        61 - Ben LeCompte, P (2012-15)
        60 - James Fisher, LS (2014-17)
        60 - Joe Haeg, OT (2012-15)
        60 - RJ Urzendowski, WR (2014-17)
 
WATSON IN TOP 10: Senior wide receiver Christian Watson is closing in on the 2,000-yard mark, which only seven other NDSU players have reached in program history. Watson currently ranks ninth all-time at NDSU with 1,845 career receiving yards and needs 71 yards to pass Len Kretchman (1985-88) for eighth on the list.
 
HISTORIC PACE: North Dakota State has allowed an FCS-low seven touchdowns this year and leads the FCS in scoring defense allowing 8.1 points per game. That is the best scoring defense in NDSU's 18 seasons as a Division I program, topping the 11.3 ppg by the 2013 national championship team. Only Georgia is allowing fewer points (6.6 ppg) this year in Division I.
 
IN THE ZONE: North Dakota State leads the FCS in red-zone defense (.500) allowing four rushing touchdowns and two field goals in 12 opportunities inside the 20-yard line. NDSU opponents have four turnovers on downs, one interception and one fumble in the red zone. Only James Madison has allowed fewer trips inside the red zone this season (11). NDSU's offense was a season-best 5-for-5 with five touchdowns in the red zone against Indiana State.