All 10 league teams are in action this weekend with five Conference games on the slate.  All five games this weekend will be available on ESPN3.  The league’s ESPN3 production is the Western Illinois-Illinois State contest at 12 pm CT.  Adam Seidel, Danan Hughes and Kelly Burke will be on the call from Normal, Ill.

Weekly Notebook (Oct. 30) - PDF

100th All-Time Meeting 
Illinois State and Western Illinois will meet for the 100th time on the gridiron this Saturday when the Redbirds host the Leathernecks.  The series began in 1904 and is the third-most played rivalry among league members (South Dakota State-South Dakota have faced one another 109 times, while North Dakota State and SDSU have played 106 previous games.)

Dakota Marker This Saturday
South Dakota State hosts North Dakota State in the annual Dakota Marker game on Saturday.  The programs have played for the trophy annually since 2004 when the two football teams began NCAA Division I competition.  NDSU leads the Dakota Marker series, 8-5, while South Dakota State claimed the trophy last year with a 19-17 win in Fargo.  NDSU and SDSU have met 106 previous times on the football field, dating back to 1903.

Saturday, Nov. 4 (Times CT)
#15 Western Illinois at #12 Illinois State, Noon  |  Normal, Ill. • ESPN3
Youngstown State at Indiana State, Noon  |  Terre Haute, Ind. • ESPN3
Missouri State at Southern Illinois, 1 pm  |  Carbondale, Ill. • ESPN3
#2 North Dakota State at #8 South Dakota State, 2 pm   |  Brookings, S.D. • NBC ND / Midco / ESPN3
#6 South Dakota at UNI, 1 pm  |  Cedar Falls, Iowa • PSN / ESPN3

Christion Earns National Honor
QB Taryn Christion of South Dakota State has earned STATS National Offensive Player of the Week honors -- he’s the seventh MVFC player to be honored by STATS this season.

Ranked vs. Ranked
Before two games this weekend, there have been 161 games in which two ranked MVFC teams have faced one another.  In those games, the home team is 94-66 (there was one neutral site game), and the higher ranked team is 98-63.  The NDSU-SDSU meeting marks the 39th game in league history in which both teams were ranked in the Top 10.

Ruling the Rankings
Eight MVFC teams rank in the Top 20 for FCS schools in the Sagarin Rankings, which includes 7 of the top 8 spots (James Madison of the CAA is the only non-MVFC school in the Top 8.)  HERO Sports’ BennettRank yields similar results -- with six MVFC schools ranked in the Top 11.  UNI’s schedule strength is rated as the most difficult in the nation by three different metrics - BennettRank, Sagarin, Massey.

Bison Stay Perfect
Two teams have been 6-0 in the same season three times in league history, including North Dakota State and South Dakota this year.  The Bison, meanwhile, are one of just three unbeaten teams in the FCS.  There are five unbeaten FBS teams.  Six previous MVFC teams, meanwhile, have started a season with nine-straight wins -- North Dakota State in 2014 was the last to do it.

2017 FCS Unbeatens (3)
8-0    James Madison, North Carolina A&T, NDSU

2017 FBS Unbeatens (5)
8-0    Alabama, Georgia, Wisconsin
7-0    UCF, Miami (Fla.)

Christion Notches 6 TDs
QB Taryn Christion accounted for six TDs in South Dakota State’s 52-24 win at Western Illinois (5 pass, 1 rush) on Oct. 28.  It’s tied for the second-most in the FCS this season in a single game (games against Division I opponents are only listed.)  It marks the second time its happened in the MVFC this season (Chris Streveler of South Dakota was the other, vs. Drake.)

Huslig Sets Bears QB Rush Mark
QB Peyton Huslig of Missouri State eclipsed DeAndre Smith’s Bears rushing record by a QB with 174 yards in the win against Indiana State.  The 174 rush yards were the sixth-most by an MVFC QB.

4-0 League Starts Are Key
North Dakota State became the 35th team in league history to start an MVFC season with a 4-0 mark after the Bison defeated Western Illinois, 22-14, on Oct. 21.  All but one of the previous 34 teams finished 2nd or better in the league standings (Western Kentucky, 2005).   Twenty eight of the 34 earned playoff berths, and 25 of those 34 teams won the MVFC crown.  NDSU has won 10 straight league games dating back to last season, which is fifth on the all-time list.

Gray Takes it to the House
Andrew Gray of South Dakota returned an interception a program-record 97 yards for a touchdown leading the seventh-ranked Coyotes to a 42-0 shutout of Southern Illinois Saturday inside the DakotaDome.  It’s tied for the 10th-longest return in MVFC history.

Jordheim Ties MVFC Record
Levi Jordheim recovered three fumbles and tied the NDSU record set by Don Meyer at Northern Michigan in 1976.  Jordheim also tied the MVFC record of three fumble recoveries by Missouri State’s Dempster Jackson in 1985 vs. Southern Illinois.  The league record for a single season is held by South Dakota State’s R.C. Kilgore, who had five recoveries in 2013 (in 14 games).

Bison With 10-Straight Wins
North Dakota State’s 10-game winning streak in regular-season league games ranks fifth-best all-time in MVFC history.  NDSU is the 24th team in MVFC history to start a league season with five-straight wins.  Of the previous 23 teams to do it, 20 of those teams won the league title that year.

Consecutive Victories (league games only)
18, North Dakota State, 2012-14
14, Southern Illinois, 2008-09
13, UNI, 1993-95
11, Western Illinois, 1997-1998
10, North Dakota State, 2016-present

Blankity Blank Blank
Two league schools recorded shutouts on Oct. 28 (South Dakota beat Southern Illinois, 42-0, and Illinois State blanked Youngstown State, 35-0).  The league has had three shutouts in league play this year and 39 in its history.  The shutout for the Coyotes was its first as an MVFC member.  The league had just one shutout in conference play last year, while the most in one season is four (accomplished in 2008, 2009, 2012 and 2015).

Shutouts as MVFC member (league games)
8 - Northern Iowa
6 - Illinois State
5 - North Dakota State, Southern Illinois
4 - Western Illinois, Youngstown State
3 - South Dakota State
2 - Missouri State 
1 - South Dakota, Western Kentucky

Two in MVFC in Top 3 for TDs
QB Chris Streveler of South Dakota has a combined 27 TDs (19 passing, 8 rushing), while QB Taryn Christion of South Dakota State has accounted for 26 TDs (21 passing and 5 rushing).  The MVFC single-season record is 44, set by North Dakota State QB Brock Jensen in 2013 (15 games).

Jake Continues To Climb Charts
WR Jake Wieneke of South Dakota State finished with season highs of eight catches for 97 yards against Western Illinois as he took over third place on the FCS career charts with 54 touchdown receptions.  He holds league career receiving records for TDs (54), yards (4,671) and is second in receptions (260).  Lance Lenoir of Western Illinois holds the latter record with 273.

Tackle Machine
LB Brett Taylor had an FCS-best 28 tackles in Western Illinois’ game vs. South Dakota.  That number ranks 5th all-time for a single game in league history.  He currently leads the FCS in tackles per game (14.8).  Including Taylor, only 15 players in MVFC history have reached 425 career tackles, while Taylor ranks 2nd among active FCS players with 425 career stops.

The Big D
Dallas Goedert of South Dakota State set a league record for receiving yards by a tight end last year with 1,293 in 13 games.  That was also the best in Division I.  He leads all DI tight ends in receiving yards again this year with 700 in eight games.  He has 2,577 receiving yards in his career, trailing only SIU’s MyCole Pruitt (2,601 from 2011-14) for career receiving yards by an MVFC tight end.