ST. PAUL, Minn. - This Saturday evening at 6 p.m., Concordia-St. Paul (1-5 NSIC, 0-2 South) looks to spoil #13 Winona State's perfect season (6-0 NSIC, 2-0 South) on CSP Faculty/Staff Appreciation Night at Sea Foam Stadium, sponsored by Summit Orthopedics.

RAINY FORECAST
Saturday's outlook calls for a 90 percent chance of rain throughout the afternoon. By 6 p.m. kickoff, there is still an 85 percent chance of rain with temperatures going from the mid 50's to the upper 40's by game's end when there is still a 70 percent chance of rain at 9 p.m.

The last two games that rained on the Golden Bears were on the road, a week four 21-20 loss at MSU Moorhead and last week's 34-29 loss at Upper Iowa. In both contests, CSP had the ball late in the fourth quarter with a chance to take the lead. CSP will hope the third time is a charm playing in the rain this Saturday.

FACULTY/STAFF APPRECIATION DAY
As part of CSP Faculty/Staff Appreciation Day, each player has asked a specific Concordia professor or staff member who has made a positive contribution to their experience as a student-athlete to be recognized at halftime. The program has made a strong effort to provide a well-rounded experience to its student-athletes including community service, campus involvement and a strong emphasis on academics. The football team is appreciative of the faculty and staff who have fostered a positive environment for the players to shine all-around.

SUMMIT ORTHOPEDICS: WEEK 7 GAME SPONSOR
Concordia athletics is proud to welcome Summit Orthopedics to this week's game as the official game sponsor. Summit Ortho is the official team physicans to Concordia University Golden Bears. They offer walk-in injury are for sprains, strains, and joint pain. It's open seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at their OrthoQUICK clinics in Eagan, Woodbury and Vadnais Heights. For tips on how to stay healthy and active, or to learn more, visit summitortho.com.

CSP thanks Summit Orthopedics for being this week's game sponsor and providing first class care to our student-athletes!

ONLINE COVERAGE
Fans unable to make it to Sea Foam Stadium can watch live online for free in Concordia's GameCentral portal that also features dynamic live stats and in-game twitter functionality (tweet #BeGolden & #NSICFB) courtesy of the NSIC's agreement with Stretch Internet. The game will be produced by School Space Media with the voice of the Golden Bears, Dan Flanagan calling the action. Flanagan is a graduate of Fordham University with a degree in broadcasting where he was able to gain experience covering Fordham's Division I programs. The St. Paul native has been the voice of the Golden Bears since 2008.

Additionally, live stats are available as is the NSIC live scoreboard to follow league action in real-time.

STREAMING DEVICES
The School Space Media streamed webcast is now available through widely used streaming devices like the Roku, Amazon FireTV, Apple TV and Android TV. Simply search for NSIC to find the Stretch Internet application for the conference to watch games on your TV and in HD (where available).

GRUELING HOME SLATE
The game with Winona State marks a significant challenge in what has been one of the tougher home schedules on record. Following the opener against Minot State, Concordia has played to host to a slate of opponents it has not yet conquered since Sea Foam Stadium was opened in 2009: St. Cloud State (0-3), Minnesota State (0-5), Winona State (0-3) and Sioux Falls (0-2). CSP was able to improve to 3-0 at Sea Foam Stadium against Minot State with a 24-0 shutout in week one, however.

NATIONALLY-RANKED OPPONENT STREAK
The Warriors, ranked #13 by the AFCA, are the second of three straight nationally-ranked home opponents. When CSP hosted Minnesota State on homecoming in week five, the Mavericks were ranked #6 in the land and have since moved up to #4. Next week's opponent, Sioux Falls, fell from #6 to #18 with its home 31-13 loss to Winona State last Saturday. The Cougars recovered by defeating a 4-2 Wayne State team on the road, 31-7 on the NSIC's Thursday Night Football Game of the Week.

SIZING UP THE OPPOSITION
The Warriors have capitalized on turnovers this season, leading the country by *averaging* a +2.17 turnover margin per game with 13 interceptions and eight fumble recoveries (21 takeaways) while coughing up the ball three times and throwing five interceptions (8 giveaways). The 13 INTs is third in the country and eight fumble recoveries is 10th.

It's an area Concordia has looked to shore up, ranking 152nd of 168 in the category with a -1.33 average turnover margin per game with 13 turnovers compared to just four caused turnovers and a 7-34 scoring margin off turnovers.

The Warriors also have the 11th-ranked scoring defense in the country, allowing 11.8 points per game. WSU has also scored at least 30 points in every game while not allowing more than 20. The Warriors have also used the defense to put points on the board, with three defensive touchdowns to rank seventh nationally.

KEYS TO THE UPSET
For CSP to pull off the upset, it needs to do three things well on Saturday evening:
1.) Win third downs. The aforementioned Warrior defense is excellent on third down, halting opponents to 29.8% conversions, ranking 18th in the country and second in the NSIC. But the WSU is inefficient, converting just 31.6% (135th DII, 13th NSIC). It's an area CSP has needed to improve as well, but has been trending upward. Concordia is 35% on third down (107th DII, 6th NSIC) and holds opponents at 34.2% (50th DII, 9th NSIC). Over the last three games (MSUM, MSU, UIU), Concordia has picked up 20-51 (39.2%) and held opponents to 11-36 (30.5%).

2.) Execute in the red zone. Just like on third downs, the WSU defense drastically outperforms its offense, holding opponents to 60.0% scoring in the red zone and an even stingier 40.0% percent touchdown rate inside the 20. Further, WSU simply doesn't allow teams to reach the red zone with just 15 opponent trips in six games on the year, an average of 2.5 per game. But the WSU offense is ranked 82nd in the country and sixth in the NSIC, converting on 79.3% of its visits to the opponent red zone, punching it into the end zone just 16 times in 29 attempts (55%).

For CSP, it's an area that should be sound in home games. On the year, Concordia's defense has a similar stop rate to WSU's success rate at 79.2 percent (78th DII, 9th NSIC) and has kept the opponents out of the end zone nine times in 24 red zone trips against. The offense scores at a 69.6% clip in 23 red zone visits and must improve at getting into the end zone where CSP has scored 11 touchdowns. The Bears do have the uber-accurate Jonas Schenderlein, who has made 6-7 field goals this year and connected on 13 straight inside of 50 yards.

The big difference for the 2017 Bears over the 2016 Bears in the red zone is opportunities. In 11 games last year, CSP allowed 56 opponent trips to the red zone (36 TD, 7 FG) while the offense got there just 27 times (21 TD, 3 FT) - a margin of -29, or nearly three opportunities per game deficit. This year, CSP has reached the red zone 23 times and only allowed the opponent there 24 times, a nearly even deficit. The next step is to turn that into a positive scoring margin.

3.) Continue to win special teams. In a game against a shut-down defense that thrives on creating turnovers with a lights-out execution on third downs and in the red zone, it's imperative for CSP to continually hold yardage advantages on special teams. CSP holds strong advantages on the year in kickoff return average (21.3 to 16.2), punt average (40.1 to 35.6) and kickoff touchback rate (19-27 to 11-38). CSP's All-NSIC tandem of Schenderlein and senior punter Sam Maedke will go up against WSU standout Carter McCauley who is fourth in the country in field goals (1.83/game) and 30th in FG percentage (78.6%), but punter Michael Russell is 13th in the NSIC (of 16) with a 36.0 punt average.

Read up on the Golden Bears in this week's GAME NOTES.