ST. PAUL, Minn. - This Saturday, Concordia-St. Paul football (1-1 NSIC, 1-1 South) looks to make it two in a row but will face #2 Minnesota State (2-0 NSIC, 2-0 South) with a 1 p.m. kickoff at Blakeslee Stadium for MSU's Harvest Bowl.

For the Golden Bears, it's also a chance to avenge their opening week road loss at a nationally-ranked opponent when they fell 27-24 to the #20 Cougars in Sioux Falls who scored the go-ahead touchdown with three seconds on the clock. The Mavericks' #2 ranking comes from the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), the default national ranking referred to by cspbears.com and Concordia publications. However, MSU is ranked #1 in the nation by D2Football.com, a poll comprised of the website's beat writers from around the country.

Full game notes will be available late on Thursday afternoon.

LIVE COVERAGE
All games in the Northern Sun are available to watch online, free of charge through the league's agreement with Stretch Internet. This week's game will be produced by Minnesota State with the audio broadcast from the MSU athletic communications office. Fans can also listen live online or in the Mankato area on AM 1230 The Fan with Mike Sullivan and Casey Lloyd on the radio call. The Fan 1230 AM audio feed can be picked up online through Tune-In radio or by downloading the CSP Bears Gameday Fan app, available in the Google Play Store or the App Store.

STREAMING DEVICES
The Minnesota State 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!

MEET THE WEEK THREE GAME CAPTAINS
For the third week in a row, senior Dom McKinzy and junior Jackson Dobbs will serve as game captains and will be joined by senior tackle Terrell Taylor and sophomore linebacker Blake Evans.

In week one, it was Rich Kelly and Dylan Wood while in week two Shaq Johnson and Andy Aune joined McKinzy and Dobbs.

SERIES HISTORY: MINNESOTA STATE 10, CSP 2
The last time Concordia-St. Paul defeated Minnesota State, the Mavericks were ranked #11 in the country with CSP prevailing 28-26 at Blakeslee Stadium in the 2010 season. The Golden Bears went on to secure a Mineral Water Bowl appearance and finished the season 8-4 overall. Since then, MSU has defeated CSP seven times in a row with the closest margin being 20 points in 2012 (30-10 in Mankato) and 2013 (27-7 in St. Paul). In the all-time series, Concordia has only topped 10 points against MSU four times, the last coming in a 57-34 loss in 2011 in St. Paul, and CSP has only held MSU under 30 points three times, the last coming in the 2013 27-7 loss in St. Paul. Concordia holds a 1-5 mark against MSU at Blakeslee Stadium.

LAST YEAR: MINNESOTA STATE 47, CSP 10
A handful of big plays were made by the visiting Mavericks, who crashed Concordia's homecoming in week five at Sea Foam Stadium. CSP looked to slow the pace down, and trailed just 3-0 after three drives for each team which was aided by an interception in the end zone by cornerback Dion Wallisch. His 39-yard kickoff return helped tilt the field towards the home team before an early second quarter drive by the Mavericks went 80 yards in just three plays. A failed two point conversion helped keep the margin in single-digits at 9-0. CSP's offense looked to drain the clock, taking nearly six and a half minutes of time to go 61 yards in 15 plays, converting a pair of 3rd-and-shorts and a 4th-and-1. Although the drive stalled, Jonas Schenderlein made a 29-yard field goal to make it a one score game, 9-3 with 6:42 to play before halftime.

The Mavericks, who would get the ball first in the second half, returned the favor by scoring on 3rd-and-goal at the one yard line on a close play that required the officials to confer before making the touchdown call.

Just inches from stopping MSU before the half, the Mavericks would take a 16-3 lead into the break and proceeded to score on its opening drive of the third quarter and then caught CSP off guard by catching the ensuing kickoff in the air to get three straight possessions.

Although Concordia's defense held the Mavericks scoreless on the bonus drive, the Golden Bear offense would see a beautiful 14-play, 75-yard drive end with an interception in the red zone after taking over five minutes off the clock. Following a 31-yard return on the pick, the Mavericks scored three plays later and had turned a 9-3 margin into a 30-3 lead with 4:55 to play in the third quarter.

Quarterback Ron Johnson completed 15-34 for 171 yards and a touchdown and punter Sam Maedke executed a 35-yard fake punt pass to tight end Justin Axelson as CSP had 210 passing yards against MSU. Elias Arlington had 5-68 and Jake Tanner 6-57 receiving and Deceon Schumann had 3-34 with a 25-yard touchdown grab.

Concordia couldn't establish the run, though, as Darnell Rolle rushed nine times for 19 yards to lead a team ground game that amassed just 34 yards on 24 attempts, including the three times Johnson was sacked for a loss of 23 yards.

MSU countered with 479 rushing yards after putting up just 64 on the ground in the first quarter. Nate Gunn (17-173), Justin Taormina (12-103) and backup quarterback JD Ekowa (3-84, long 69) each had two rushing touchdowns. Ekowa finished 5-8 passing for 47 yards and the interception while Ryan Schlichte was 6-11 for 99 yards.

Blake Evans led CSP's defense with 10 tackles but the Bears had just one tackle for loss against the Mavericks.

MSU's defense was led by Alex Goettl with six tackles and a sack while Evan Perrizo had four tackles, 2.5 for loss and a sack. Corey Brent, who had the interception, also had five tackles. MSU had five tackles for loss compared to CSP's one.

ABOUT THE BEARS
A program on the rise in the Northern Sun, the Golden Bears are mere seconds away from being a 2-0 squad with a pair of victories over winning teams from a year ago with a road win at a ranked team under their belts. Through the small two game sample size, Concordia's biggest improvements have come in ball control by winning time of possession handily in each game (33:10 average) while holding a 21-0 scoring margin in points off turnovers with a 5-4 edge in the take-give. Concordia is third in the league and 25th nationally with five forced turnovers so far, and of CSP's four committed turnovers, one came on the game's final play at USF as the team frantically attempted to use laterals to extend the final kickoff with time expired.

Senior quarterback Dom McKinzy has been solid under center for CSP, with a 148.6 pass efficiency rating with 420 yards and five touchdowns passes (to two interceptions) on 58.5 percent passing in two weeks. He also has 62 rushing yards at 4.1 per carry. He's targeted four different players for at least six receptions led by junior Marcus Gustaveson with 7-147 and a touchdown. Junior MJ Williams, who didn't receive a catch in the opener, had 6-93 with a 61-yard touchdown in week two.

Sophomore running back Shaq Johnson, with six catches for 49 yards, leads the team with three receiving touchdowns and is the first running back in CSP's Division II era (1999-present) to haul in three touchdowns via the air in a single season. He also has 176 yards on the ground, averaging 4.5 per carry with a long run of 23 yards. In a deep backfield, sophomore Lajuan Preston has provided the team's longest play of the year, a 73-yard touchdown run on a 1-play scoring drive to give CSP the lead against Upper Iowa in the first quarter of week two. Preston has 100 yards on 11 carries, averaging 9.1 per tote and also had a big 4th-and-1 run at Sioux Falls for 14 yards.

The defense has been led by redshirt freshman cornerback Marcus Haskins who had an NCAA DII single-game high seven passes defended in week two with six breakups and an interception against the Peacocks. He has two interceptions on the year, both in the end zone and his nine passes defended (7 PBU, 2 INT) rank second in the country through two weeks. He has eight tackles, seven being solo with his only assisted tackle coming for a half tackle for loss.

Sophomore linebacker Blake Evans leads the defense with 16 total tackles after producing a club-high 97 stops as a true freshman, starting in just six games as a rookie. Redshirt freshman linebacker Jake Portz adds 11 tackles including a sack and tackle for loss.

Up front, the team's three defensive ends: starters Jackson Dobbs and Chris Garrett and reserve Shawn Aarhus, have been the statistical leaders. Dobbs and Garrett are tied for third on the team with nine tackles, with Garrett adding 2.0 TFL and 1.5 sacks while Dobbs has 1.5 TFL and 0.5 sacks. Dobbs also has a fumble recovery. Aarhus has a sack, tackle for loss, fumble forced and fumble recovery - all coming in his debut at USF in week one.

ABOUT THE MAVERICKS
Minnesota State University, Mankato came into the season picked first in the NSIC South division and overall conference preseason coaches poll. The Mavericks have also showed their prowess nationally, being ranked as the #2 team in the country after week two in the AFCA poll and topping the D2Football.com rankings as the #1 team in the country.

Through two weeks Minnesota State is 2-0, defeating Southwest Minnesota State 49-13 at home in week one and traveling to Augustana to defeat the Vikings 38-36. Last year the Mavericks went 13-1, carrying an undefeated season into their last game against Texas A&M Commerce. The Mavericks' season came to an end against the Lions in the NCAA II quarterfinals, losing 31-21 to the eventual DII National Champions.

The Mavericks claimed 11 First Team All-NSIC selections and five Second Team All-NSIC selections in 2017, as well as two All-Americans.

This year the Mavericks have featured a balanced offensive attack, rushing for 247 yards per game while passing for 297. The rushing defense has been stout (57.5 yards per game), but opponents have had success throwing the ball against Minnesota State (370.5 passing yards per game).

Nate Gunn is back for the Mavericks to lead their rushing attack, and the senior has already amassed 250 yards and five touchdown on 5.0 yards per carry through two games.

Minnesota State features a two-QB attack. Their primary quarterback is junior Ryan Schlichte, who has thrown for for 533 yards on 26-38 passing. Sophomore JD Ekowa has also made an impact, rushing for 108 yards and a touchdown while also throwing for 61 yards and touchdown.

Ten Mavericks have caught passes in the first two weeks, but their receiving core is led by juniors Shane Zylstra and Justin Arnold. Zylstra has caught ten passes for 175 yards and two touchdowns and Arnold has corralled eight throws for 157 yards. Zylstra Was NSIC Offensive Player of the Year in 2017.

The defense has been led by safety Cole Schroedermeier with 15 tackles. Fellow safety Cade Johnson is second with 13 tackles. The Mavericks have yet to force a fumble or record an interception.

The kicking game is also a strength for Minnesota State as they feature kicker/punter Casey Bednarski. After receiving multiple All-American Accolades in 2017, Bednarski has kicked 12 touchbacks in 15 kickoffs, averaged 41.7 yards per punt, and made one of two field goals attempts through two games in 2018.