ST. PAUL, Minn. - This weekend, Concordia-St. Paul football (1-7, 1-6 NSIC, 0-3 South) hosts Wayne State (4-4, 4-3 NSIC, 2-1 South) for a noon kickoff at Sea Foam Stadium.

FACULTY/STAFF APPRECIATION DAY
This week's game will feature additional support in the stands as each member of the football team reached out to a faculty or staff member who has positively impacted their time at Concordia. Each member was invited to the game and will be honored on the field during halftime. Thank you to the CSP faculty & staff who have helped shape positive experiences for the Golden Bear football student-athletes!

WEATHER OUTLOOK
Saturday's game is expected to see temperatures ranging from 42 at kickoff to the day's high of 44 by 3pm with cloudy conditions and a 15-20 percent chance of rain during play and a light NNE wind at 6-7 (!) mph. 

TICKETS - PURCHASE IN ADVANCE ONLINE
Fans are highly encouraged to purchase tickets online at cspbears.com/tickets prior to game day. All ticketed events for the 25-26 academic year will utilize the Vivenu online ticket platform found at that link and fans must scan a mobile ticket to enter. Tickets will still be sold on site on game day but purchases are card-only and include additional fees. The best way for fans to make their game day entry as smooth as possible is to purchase tickets online in advance. CSP Students, Faculty and Staff will be able to download their free passes through Vivenu.

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.

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 Hudl (formerly 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.

COACHES SHOW RETURNS TO TWIN CITIES RADIO
The Coaches Show with Shannon Currier is back on the Twin Cities airwaves for a sixth 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. 

This week's guests on the show: junior offensive lineman Sam Yager and junior safety Byron Sweeny.

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 YouTube podcasts. 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!

2025 TEAM CAPTAINS
CSP head coach Shannon Currier features rotating team captains each week for the seventh year in a row in 2025. 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 senior center Caydon Christensen (5x) and senior guard CJ Picazo (4x) on offense, and sophomore sophomore defensive end Isaiah Wray (5x) and junior linebacker Dominic Stencel on defense.

SERIES HISTORY: WSC 13, CSP 11
The Golden Bears dominated the early years in the series, winning six of the first eight including a 4-0 record during head coach Shannon Currier's first term with the program (2000-03).

But the Wildcats have turned the tables in the past 10 years, winning seven of the last nine contests and three in a row.

Coach Currier holds a 6-5 record against the Wildcats, last securing wins in back-to-back seasons in 2018 and 2019 against WSC. 

Concordia is 6-6 at home against Wayne State and 2-5 against the Wildcats at Sea Foam Stadium (2009-present). 

LAST MEETING, 2024: WSC 21, CSP 0
In the season finale, Concordia's defense limited host Wayne State to field goals on a pair of long scoring drives in the first and second quarters, but the Wildcats were able to find the end zone with just eight seconds left in the first half to finish off a 12-play, 93-yard drive by recovering a fumble at the goal line in the end zone on 3rd-and-goal from the CSP 1-yard line for a 13-0 lead.

CSP would then fumble the ensuing kickoff, giving WSC the ball at the CSP 31 with three seconds, but a sack by Drake Teal and Islee Cassidy ended the half on a positive note for CSP.

Concordia's defense held Wayne State to just one score in the second half, a mid-third quarter TD on a 9-play, 77-yard drive to put the Wildcats up 21-0, the eventual final score.

Senior linebacker Brayden Hilgemann was named the Egg Bowl MVP for CSP, leading all players in the game with 11 tackles to finish his senior year with 68 tackles. WSC's Akeem Knox secured Egg Bowl MVP honors for the Wildcats with 30 carries for 162 yards and a TD.

Concordia's Troy Ellison surpassed 1,000 career receiving yards in the loss, securing two catches for 58 yards with a long of 47 and also completed 1-2 passes for three yards.

Wayne State's defense bottled up one of the nation's leading rushers, Jaylin Richardson, to just 20 yards on 11 carries but the senior still clinched the NSIC rushing title with 1,090 yards in 10 NSIC games. On the year, including non-conference, Richardson rushed for 1,157 yards and 13 TDs while adding 15-136 receiving with 14 total TDs.

Concordia's defense held Wayne State to 8-15 passing for 81 yards but the Wildcats found success on the ground with 56-291.

Concordia's QB, Jackson Compton, out-passed the Wildcats by more than 100 yards, completing 16-32 for 179 yards, didn't turn the ball over, and was only sacked once. He targeted 12 players and completed passes to 10 different options with six players getting at least two catches.

ABOUT THE WILDCATS
The Wildcats finished fifth in the Northern Sun in 2024 with a 6-4 league record, going 7-4 overall. Entering 2025, WSC was tabbed sixth overall in the 14-team NSIC Preseason Coaches Poll and fourth in the seven-team NSIC South Division poll.

The Wildcats are producing at those same clips in 2025, in a four-team tie for fifth place in the NSIC overall standings at 4-3, and third in the NSIC South at 2-1, a half game ahead of Winona State and a half game behind Minnesota State, who the Wildcats just upset 35-20 in Wayne, Nebraska last Saturday.

Wayne State is just 1-2 on the road, defeating MSU Moorhead 27-17 in week four but falling 26-7 at Northern State in week three and 21-14 at Winona State in week six.

Wayne State finds success in the offensive and defensive run game, leading the NSIC and ranking 14th nationally by holding opponents to 89.6 rushing yards per game, while gaining 211.4 per game on the ground offensively, third-most in the NSIC and 24th in the country. 

Wayne State's overall defensive presence has been impressive, ranking seventh in the country with a league-leading 8.4 TFLs per game, 10th in the nation with an NSIC-best 3.4 sacks per game, a league-high 19 turnovers (12th, DII) and the league's top-ranked total defense, allowing 299.8 yards per game. The Wildcats have registered 13 interceptions, sixth-most in the country, allowed the second-fewest first downs in the NSIC (16.8/game) and lead the league and rank 14th in the nation in third down defense (29.2%).

Dawson Forgy has been a machine, averaging 164.5 all-purpose yards per game with 13 total touchdowns, ranking fourth and fifth in the nation, respectively, while adding Division II's fifth-most rushing yards (983).

Jes Krcil leads the defense with the 13th-most tackles in the country (10.1/game) and 17th-most TFLs (1.5/game) in Division II while adding the league's fifth-most sacks (0.6/game). In the secondary, Kahmel Johnson (1.38) and Clyde Hinton (1.0) are third and fifth in the NSIC, respectively, in passes defended per game. 

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FULL PREVIEW: CSP GAME NOTES
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