ST. PAUL, Minn. - This Saturday, Concordia-St. Paul football (2-4, 2-3 NSIC) returns home from a two-game roadstand to start the only back-to-back home games on the 2024 schedule, hosting MSU Moorhead (2-4, 2-3 NSIC) with a noon kickoff at Sea Foam Stadium. The game marks the program's CSP Faculty/Staff Appreciation game.

WEATHER OUTLOOK
Saturday is headed towards another exceptional fall weather day with a forecast high of 72, partly cloudy conditions and light SW winds at 5-10mph.

WATCH ONLINE – NSIC NETWORK
All Golden Bear NSIC football games will be available to watch online, free of charge, powered by the NSIC Network, and supported by BlueFrame Technology.
 
Visit nsicnetwork.com/cspbears on a laptop or desktop computer, download the NSIC Network app on your mobile device or watch on your supported OTT provider such as Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV. Search "NSIC Network" and download the app for the league's full sport and team lineups. NSIC NETWORK FAQ

All home games will feature the play-by-play broadcasting provided by Dan Flanagan, the voice of the Golden Bears for over a decade. The St. Paul, Minnesota native studied broadcasting at Fordham University (N.Y.) where he was the voice of the Rams' football and basketball teams in the NCAA Division I Patriot League.

DOWNLOAD THE APP
Fans can download the CSP Bears fan app, free of charge and available in the App Store or on Google Play. The app contains rosters, schedules, scores, stats, news, social media and more! Customize your options to get notifications to your favorite teams, as well. Search "CSP Bears" in the app store to stay up-to-date on Golden Bear athletics.

LISTEN TO THE COACHES SHOW
The Coaches Show with Shannon Currier is back on the Twin Cities airwaves for a fifth season, once again hosted by Wally Langfellow of Minnesota Score. The show airs following the Minnesota high school football game of the week, typically on Friday evenings in the 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. hour on KYCR 1440 AM radio, available in the Twin Cities metro area.
 
The show typically features two segments with Coach Currier along with a segment with Langfellow joined by a pair of student-athletes. This week's radio interview guests are junior center Caydon Christensen and senior cornerback McKinley Egland-Young.
 
For fans who miss the show or are outside of the radio station's Twin Cities reach, the entire show is accessible via the CSP Bears Podcast, available in Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and Google Play Music. It will typically be uploaded late Friday night (after the initial air time) or Saturday morning prior to the game. Search 'CSP Bears' into your favorite podcast provider!

2024 TEAM CAPTAINS
CSP head coach Shannon Currier features rotating team captains each week for the sixth year in a row in 2024. Captains are selected by the coaching staff based on performance on the field and as a leader in practice, meetings and day-to-day activities.

This week's game captains are offensive linemen senior Taylon Hensley and junior Caydon Christensen, joined by sophomore linebacker Ben Rehl and senior cornerback McKinley Egland-Young on defense.

NSIC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Concordia secured its second NSIC Player of the Week in a three-week span when Jeff Isotalo-McGuire earned NSIC Special Teams Player of the Week honors in a week 5 road win at UMary, just two weeks after Richard Wauer was named the NSIC Defensive Player of the Week for a week 3 road win at SMSU.

#30 Jeff Isotalo-McGuire (K, 6-2, 195, Sr., Phoenix, Ariz.)
- Set CSP record with a 60-yard FG for 3-0 lead in a 19-13 2OT win at UMary in week 5
- Battled intense wind conditions, making 2-of-4 FG including a game-tying 23-yarder in OT
- The 60-yarder is the longest FG in NCAA Division II in 2024
- Accounted for seven points in the win
- All three kickoffs were touchbacks
- Has buried 11-of-18 kickoffs for touchbacks on the season
- Also has the 12th-longest FG in DII (51, vs Minnesota State)

#26 Richard Wauer (LB, 6-1, 230, Jr., Muskego, Wis. / HS)
- Had a career-high 13 tackles in Wk3 27-17 road win at SMSU
- Of his 13 tackles, 10 were solo stops
- Helped hold SMSU to 106 rushing yards at 3.0 per attempt
- Part of a defense that held SMSU to 2-12 on third downs
- Ranks 2nd in the NSIC and 51st DII with 8.3 tackles/game
- Ranks 3rd in the NSIC and 31st DII with 5.3 solo tackles/game

RICHARDSON ROLLING IN THE RUN GAME
Senior running back Jaylin Richardson is coming off of a career-year as a junior, earning All-NSIC First Team honors with five 100-yard rushing games. He also eclipsed 100 combined yards another time and added a pair of 3-TD games in 2023.

He finished his junior campaign with 942 rushing yards, 234 receiving yards for 1,176 combined and eight total TDs (seven rushing).

He has picked up where he left off in 2024, hitting the 100-yard mark in three of CSP's first six games and has produced at least 74 yards from scrimmage in all six games, as well.

On the year, Richardson is 11th in the nation, averaging a league-leading 104.2 rushing yards per game his seven total TDs rank 29th in the country and third in the NSIC.

He became Concordia's 10th player in program history to achieve 2,000-plus rushing yards with his week three effort at SMSU and topped 3,000 career all-purpose yards in week five at UMary. He now has 2,388 rushing yards, 73-637 receiving, 3,238 all-purpose yards and 21 total TDs.

He has nine career 100-yard rushing performances, 12 games with 100-plus rushing/receiving yards and 14 games with 100-plus all-purpose yards.

He hit new career-highs in a week five road win at UMary with 32-189 rushing and 226 all-purpose yards.

ENKE HITS 100 IN WEEK THREE WIN & 1K IN WEEK SIX
Senior wide receiver Drew Enke came through with a strong performance in a 27-17 week three road win at SMSU, producing six catches for 114 yards and a 50-yard TD.

He leads CSP with across the board with 19-285 (15.0).

He surpassed the 1,000 yard mark for his career in week six at Sioux Falls with 5-77 receiving in the game.

In three years as a Golden Bear, he's registered 72 catches for 1,068 yards, averaging 14.8 per catch with three TDs.

PROVIDING PROTECTION
The Golden Bear offensive line features significant experience across the starting lineup as well as key reserve positions. Senior starters Robby Carrillo (LT) and Taylon Hensley (LG) on the left side, junior center Caydon Christensen, senior right guard Jac Carver and junior right tackle Austin Carrillo comprise the starters through the first three games.

Through six weeks, Concordia ranks sixth in the nation and leads the Northern Sun with just 3.50 tackles for loss allowed per game, a combination of solid pass blocking and consistent positive yardage on the ground.

The team has also only surrendered four sacks (0.67/game), ranking eighth in the nation and second in the NSIC.

Concordia's ground attack is seventh in the NSIC and 43rd in the country with 166.2 yards per game.

Concordia's run game is averaging 4.7 yards per carry with 56 of the team's 114 first downs picked up on the ground.

CSP out-rushes the competition, too, with a +16.6 yard advantage per game while holding opponents to 4.1 per carry.

DISCIPLINED BEARS
Through six games, Concordia has been showing strong discipline with regards to penalties, ranking seventh in the nation with 42.8 penalty yards per game and 16th in the nation with 5.2 penalties per game.

It's been an advantage for the Golden Bears, as opponents have been flagged for 52.5 yards per game.

Concordia's defense has been strong when it's counted most, leading the NSIC and ranking 17th in the country with a .654 red zone defense.

Concordia's five total blocked kicks ranks are one shy of the national lead on the season while CSP's 36.11 net punt average ranks fifth in the Northern Sun.

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FULL CSP PREVIEW: VIEW THIS WEEK'S GAME NOTES
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ABOUT THE DRAGONS
MSU Moorhead is 2-4 overall and 2-3 NSIC midway through the 2024 season after being picked sixth in the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll, coming off of a 7-4 overall and 6-4 NSIC season in 2023.

They've picked up a pair of nationally-ranked wins, 30-29 at #19 Minnesota Duluth in week and 43-41 at home against #18 Augustana in week four, nearly pulling off another in a 24-19 loss at #15 Minnesota State in week six.

The Dragons boast the fourth-ranked pass offense in the country powered by quarterback Jack Strand who leads the nation in completions (34.8), ranks second in the country in passing yards (341.3) and 16th in passing touchdowns (14) while ranking 98th in the nation and eighth in the NSIC with a 117.9 pass efficiency. He's third in the country in total offense, as well, producing 342.3 yards per game. He fired his 66th career TD pass last week, a school record at MSUM.

His top target, Gage Florence, leads the country with 9.0 receptions per game while Madden Thorson is third nationally with 7.8 catches, and two others, Luke Imdieke (26th, 5.5/game) and Brady Perryman (10th NSIC, 4.5/game) also earn frequent looks. The trio has all topped 400 yards, too led by Florence's 497, while Perryman leads with five TDs.

Last week, Thorson had 15 catches for 114 yards and Josiah Behm had an INT, eight tackles and 0.5 TFL in a 24-19 loss to Minnesota State. Behm is second on the team with 43 tackles and leads MSUM with 5.5 TFLs.

The defensive leader has been Gavin Jarchow with 46 tackles and four breakups while Justice Noel leads with 2.0 sacks and Cody Sorenson has a pair of INTs.

The Dragon ground game averages just 25.7 yards per game with Fynn Ridgeway leading the team with 32-86 and a TD.