ST. PAUL, Minn. - This Saturday at 1 p.m., Concordia-St. Paul (5-5 NSIC, 3-3 South) will face Winona State (7-3 NSIC, 4-2 South) at Altra Federal Credit Union Stadium in Winona, Minnesota in the 2018 season finale.

WHAT'S ON THE LINE
Concordia is seeking its first winning overall season since a 6-5 finish in 2011 and its first winning NSIC season since a 7-3 fourth place finish which secured the program's third Mineral Water Bowl berth in 2010. Additionally, the Golden Bears are in the hunt for a winning record in the NSIC South Division for the first time since 2014 (4-3) when they took third in the division with a four game winning streak to end the season.

PLAYING FOR SECOND
In the conference standings, a Concordia win over Winona State and a Sioux Falls loss at home to Wayne State would give the Golden Bears a second place finish in the NSIC South Division which would be the program's highest finish since the league went to division play in 2012. Further, if Augustana loses at SMSU and if Bemidji State loses at home to Minot State, Concordia can finish as a high as sixth in the Northern Sun with a win over Winona State.

CONGRATS TO COACH C!
Last Saturday's win at SMSU was the 41st in head coach Shannon Currier's seven seasons with the Golden Bears, split between two eras (2000-03 & 2016-present). He's now the all-time winningest football coach in program history and carries a 41-35 career record into Saturday's finale at Winona State. Currier looks to achieve another career first this Saturday, looking for his first road win in his fourth trip to WSU where CSP is 1-7 all-time.

WEATHER OUTLOOK
As of Thursday afternoon, the Winona area is expecting a high of 30 degrees and a low of 24 with a 10 percent chance of snow and a light SW 5 mph wind.

LIVE COVERAGE
The game can be watched online, free of charge as HBC 25 produces the video webcast while KQAL 89.5 FM will broadcast the game locally on the radio with Justin Barrientos and Bob Urness calling the action. The video is available online in the CSP Bears video portal hosted by Stretch Internet.

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

STREAMING DEVICES
The HBC 25 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).

DOWNLOAD THE CSP BEARS GAMEDAY FAN APP
Follow the Golden Bear football team along with the rest of your favorite CSP Bears squads by downloading the new gameday fan app, hosted by From Now On. The app provides users with a unique and customizable experience, allowing each user to select the sports they want to follow and how they are connected to CSP (fans, students, faculty/staff, alumni, etc). The app will also be a new way to stay updated on the action as well as to be the first to find out about promotions and special events!

COACHES SHOW WITH SHANNON CURRIER AVAILABLE THURSDAY THIS WEEK
New this year, the Coach Shannon Currier Show debuted on 1440 AM KYCR radio in the Twin Cities following the prep football game of the week. The show is hosted by Wally Langfellow of Minnesota Score, and will be a weekly airing following the prep football game of the week, typically in the 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. hour. This week's show is the eighth episode and features player interviews with junior quarterback Maxon Hutton and junior cornerback Dion Wallisch.

For fans who miss the show or are outside of the radio station's Twin Cities reach, the entire show will also be accessible via the CSP Bears Podcast, hosted by Buzzsprout and also available in Spotify, iTunes, Google Play Music, Stitcher and TuneIn Radio. Or, if you're around the house, tell Alexa to play the CSP Bears Podcast! It will be available on the podcast either late Friday night after the initial airing or on Saturday morning.

CHECK BACK FOR ENHANCED PREVIEW COVERAGE
For fans hungry for the most Golden Bear football content on the web, check the GAME NOTES index page as well as the CSP FOOTBALL WEEKLY index. The two pieces are created with different goals. Game notes, typically released on Thursday afternoons, is to serve concerned media members covering CSP, the opponent media market and those covering NSIC/DII football while the football weekly piece (released Thursday or Friday) is a document produced by the coaching staff to update alumni, family and recruits on behind-the-scenes life in Concordia football. Together they combine to tell the full story of Concordia football, especially when combined with the multimedia options with the CSP Bears Podcast and Coaches Show.

2018 TEAM CAPTAINS
Concordia head coach Shannon Currier has featured rotating team captains each week throughout the season, starting back in the first week of fall training camp. Captains are selected by the coaching staff based on performance on the field and as a leader in practice, meetings and in general day-to-day activities.

This week's game captains features a pair of familiar faces: junior offensive lineman Rich Kelly (8x) and junior defensive end Jackson Dobbs (8x) being joined by sophomore defensive end Chris Garrett (3x) and first time team captain junior wide receiver MJ Williams.

GARRETT NAMED NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Sophomore defensive end Chris Garrett earned D2Football.com National Defensive Player of the Week honors following his four sack performance in a 16-10 win at SMSU. He also forced a fumble and made seven tackles, with SMSU's longest gain on any of his plays being just four years. He also had an assisted tackle to stop a 4th-and-1 play for no gain. His four sacks were a national high for week 10 and the second-most in the NSIC on the season. He now leads the country with 1.44 sacks per game and 10.5 of his 13.0 sacks on the year have come in the past five weeks. In 16 career games, Garrett has racked up 19 total sacks and his 13.0 sacks this year rank fourth in CSP history for a single-season, just two shy of the record.

His D2Football.com National Player of the Week award was accompanied by being named NSIC Defensive Player of the Week, his second NSIC Player of the Week award in his career, also earning the honor as a freshman in 2017.

CSP LOCKS DOWN NSIC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Concordia football has received an NSIC Player of the Week award in three of the last four weeks accounting for four total selections as the team has produced a 3-1 record down the stretch. The defense has picked up three of those four honors, starting with redshirt freshman safety Dez Bassett in week seven's 17-7 win at UMary where his 77-yard INT return for touchdown broke a scoreless tie in the third quarter.

In week eight, it was junior defensive end Jackson Dobbs who produced four sacks, leading the country in sacks for in week 8 with the second-most sacks in a game in the conference on the season.

In week 10's 16-10 win at SMSU, Concordia picked up two of the three weekly awards as sophomore defensive end Chris Garrett matched Dobbs' four sack performance which led the country for week 10 and also earned him D2Football.com National Defensive Player of the Week honors. Senior kicker Jonas Schenderlein earned NSIC Special Teams Player of the Week honors, making three field goals including two from 50-plus yards and scored 10 points in the contest. He also hammered five touchbacks on all five of his kickoffs. He's made 11 field goals on the season, has made nine 50-plus yard field goals in his career (CSP record) among his 40 total field goals made (2nd, CSP).

HASKINS A NATIONAL LEADER HEADING INTO WEEK 11
Redshirt reshman cornerback Marcus Haskins enters the final week leading the country in passes defended (PBU + INT), producing 2.6 per game for a total of 26. His seven interceptions in 10 games (0.7 per game) ranks second in the country and leads the league, as well. He started his career with an interception in each of Concordia's first five games and added two in a game against Augustana in week 9. He had seven passes defended in a week 2 win over Upper Iowa with six pass breakups and an interception. His total is still tied for the single-game high in Division II football this year, and of the three players to accomplish the total, he was the only of the three to record an interception in the process.

100-YARD PERFORMANCES
With his 5-catch, 105 yard performance at SMSU in week 10, junior wide receiver MJ Williams had his second 100 yard receiving game of the year. He also went for 7 catches for 115 yards against Northern State and leads the team with 39 catches for 595 yards and four touchdowns.

On the ground, three different Golden Bears have produced 100 yard rushing performances starting with sophomore Shaq Johnson's 22-110 effort in week 2 against Upper Iowa, adding 2-26 with a TD. When Johnson's season ended late in week 4 against WSC with an injury, sophomore Lajuan Preston stepped in and produced three 100-yard games in a four week span starting at UMD (13-111) followed by Northern State (23-141) and UM Crookston (13-106). In the UMC win, Preston wasn't even the team's leading rusher as senior quarterback Dom McKinzy had 15-131 and a touchdown to give the team a pair of 100 yard rushers for the first time since 2005.

OFFENSIVE LINE PROTECTS THE BEARS
With three players who have produced 100 yards on the ground, the offensive line has done its part to pave the way, ranking 38th in the country with 5.3 tackles for loss allowed per game. The ground game ranks fifth in the Northern Sun with 173.1 rushing yards per game, as well. It's been a deep unit, with multiple players missing games due to injury with quality reserves jumping into starting roles for extending time this season.

FOURTH DOWN & RED ZONE DEFENSE COMES THROUGH
The Golden Bears held SMSU to 0-for-4 on fourth downs in a 16-10 week 10 road win last week. The effort brings CSP's fourth down defense to .208 on the season (5-24). The mark leads the Northern Sun and ranks seventh in the country. The defense has also held strong in the red zone, ranking third in the league and 36th nationally in holding opponents scoreless in the red zone nearly 30 percent of the time (22-31, 71%).

SERIES HISTORY: WINONA STATE 16, CONCORDIA 4
The Golden Bears hold a 4-16 all-time record against Winona State as the teams have played every year since 1998. The Warriors won the first five meetings before head coach Shannon Currier beat WSU 23-20 in overtime at Griffin Stadium in 2003 en route to the program's first NSIC Championship and trip to the Mineral Water Bowl. Concordia topped WSU two out of three years, winning again in 2005 at the Metrodome to secure its second league title and MWB trip. From there, WSU opened up a seven game winning streak when Concordia topped WSU 23-13 in the Metrodome in 2013. In the 2014 season finale, Concordia secured its first road win at WSU, 31-28 to beat the Warriors in back-to-back years. The Warriors have won the last three meetings, with the closest margin of 18 points last year (28-10).

Head coach Shannon Currier holds a 1-5 record against Winona State and is 0-3 in Winona. CSP is 1-7 all-time in road games against the Warriors.

LAST MEETING, 2018: WINONA STATE 28, CONCORDIA 10
The last time the Concordia and Winona State faced off was last season at Sea Foam Stadium in October, as the #13 Warriors took home a 28-10 victory over the Golden Bears on a cold, rainy night.

A defensive battle for most of the game, the Warriors pulled away in the fourth quarter to claim the victory. The deciding factor in the contest was the ground game, as Winona State racked up 288 yards rushing yards compared to 54 for the Golden Bears.

Concordia got the scoring going in the first quarter, as a Dion Wallisch interception set up a 41-yard field goal by Jonas Schenderlein. Winona State answered back with a 5-yard rushing touchdown by Javian Roebuck, and the score would remain 7-3 until halftime.

Concordia's defense came to play against one of the top teams in the country, with top-notch performances from the front seven and secondary. Freshman LB Blake Evans and junior DB Brian Szutkowski led the team with 14 tackles, as Evans also recorded half a tackle for loss and Szutkowski broke up a pass.

Another top playmaker on defense was LB Antonio Zepeda, who was third on the team in tackles with eight (including one for loss). Zepeda also forced a fumble and blocked a field goal. Other standout performers were junior DB Dion Wallisch (INT, forced fumble) and sophomore DL Dylan Wood (1.5 TFL, forced fumble).

The second half would be scoreless until the Warriors got back on the board with another Roebuck touchdown late in the third quarter, this time on a 16-yard run. They would score back-to-back touchdowns on drives to start the fourth quarter, both on goal-line runs by Landon Jacobson to take a 28-3 lead. CSP would add a TD late in the fourth on a 17-yard pass from sophomore QB Maxon Hutton to fellow sophomore WR Marcus Gustaveson, but that would end the scoring for the game.

CSP's defense showed their prowess against the undefeated Warriors on third down, holding Winona State to two conversions on 10 attempts. The Golden Bears were also a bit unlucky, as they forced three fumbles and blocked a kick, but were unable to recover any of the loose balls.

ABOUT THE WARRIORS
Winona State has posted a 7-3 mark coming into the final game of the season. The Warriors are looking for their third straight eight-win season.

The Warriors score an average of 32.7 points per game (6th NSIC) while allowing an average of 23.2 points per contest (5th NSIC). Winona State has averaged 364.7 yards per game on offense (10th NSIC) and allowed 360.0 yards on average (7th NSIC).

Winona State is 9th in the conference in both passing yards per game (230.1) and rushing yards per game (134.6). Their rushing defense has been a bigger strength, ranking fifth in the NSIC with 121.9 yards given up on the ground, compared to 238.1 yards passing yards allowed per contest (12th NSIC).

Winona State sophomore QB Owen Burke is fifth in the conference with 220.6 passing yards a game, and also has thrown 20 touchdowns with a 53.9 completion percentage. Burke has also tossed eight interceptions this season.

His top target this season has senior wide receiver Isaiah Frandsen. Frandsen has accrued 35 catches on the season, averaging 63.9 receiving yards per game and hauling in eight TD passes. Frandsen also has big play potential, as he ranks third in the NSIC in average yards per catch at 18.3.

The Warriors have two running backs that have carried the load in the ground game. Junior Javian Roebuck leads the team with 55.78 yards per game while sophomore Sam Santiago-Lloyd is close behind with 52.40 yard per game. Santiago-Lloyd leads the team in rushing TDs with five.

Winona State has had a balanced defense, which features eight players with 40+ tackles. Junior DB Cole Monckton leads the team with 58 stops, and is fourth in the conference with 14 passes defended. Senior defensive end Michael Ferrante leads the team with 11 tackles for loss and has one forced fumble.

Sophomore DB Isaiah Hall and junior DB Romario Gayle have also had solid seasons for Winona State's secondary. Hall has picked off three passes and has eight other breakups while Gayle has snatched four INTs.

The Warriors have been stout on third down, with opponents converting just 31.9% of the time (3rd NSIC). WSU has attempted just 16 fourth down plays on offense this season, the 5th least in the NSIC. The Warriors have attempted 23 field goals (making 15), the most in the NSIC.

Winona State has had success on special teams, ranking third in the conference in kickoff coverage (40.0 net yard per kickoff) and and fourth net punting (36.0 yards per punt). The Warriors are also third in kickoff return yardage (22.6 yards per return) and second in punt return average (15.3 yards per return).