ST. PAUL, Minn. - This Saturday, Concordia-St. Paul (1-2, 0-2 NSIC) returns home to host Bemidji State (1-2, 1-1 NSIC) for a noon homecoming kickoff at Sea Foam Stadium. Comet's Carnival will open during the second half of the football game at 2 p.m., featuring unlimited rides, carnival food, petting zoo, games and the Bear Garden with adult beverages - Comet's Carnival is accessible with the purchase of a homecoming wristband.

This Saturday marks the end of a stretch of three home games in the first four weeks to start the season. CSP will also have a stretch of three home games in a four-game span later in the year with a bye mixed in. 

Concordia will feature its newest Athletic Hall of Fame inductees as part of the pregame coin toss, with three football honorees: Kole Goodchild (QB, 2005-07), Jordan Halverson (LB, 2010-15) and CJ Sanderson (OT, 2002-05). CSP has a fourth football Hall of Fame member, Zach Moore (DE, 2009-13) who is unable to attend this weekend's ceremonies. 

The three football honorees will be joined in a halftime recognition alongside the other four inductees: Heather (Schiller) Emond from volleyball, Colin Goligoski from track & field, Cole Olstad from basketball and Jake Waldman from baseball.

Read more about the 2026 Concordia Athletic Hall of Fame class. 

WEATHER OUTLOOK
Just 24 hours from kickoff, it looks like a gloomy fall Saturday in St. Paul with morning showers turning to overcast skies later in the day, a high of 62 degrees and a NE 10-15 mph wind. While Saturday has a 50 percent chance of rain, the game time hours from noon to 3 p.m. show a 21-to-34 percent chance of rain, spiking to 34 percent at 1 p.m.

WATCH LIVE: NSIC NETWORK ON MIDCO SPORTS PLUS
Starting with the 2026-27 season, Concordia and the NSIC will call Midco Sports Plus the streaming home for the NSIC Network. Midco Sports Plus, a regional cable provider primarily based in North Dakota, South Dakota and parts of Minnesota, features an expanded variety of online sports coverage.
 
The NSIC Network will be part of a subscription service with annual access plans starting at under $7 per month for the full year ($79/year) or monthly service for $15 which includes NSIC coverage as well as Summit League.
 
Concordia's broadcasts will continue to feature multiple cameras with instant replay along with commentary from St. Paul-native Dan Flanagan, a graduate of Fordham University (N.Y.) where he covered multiple NCAA Division I sports teams on campus for the Rams including football and basketball in the Patriot League. Flanagan has been the broadcast voice of the Golden Bears for nearly 20 years and called multiple national, regional and conference championships.
 
For more information, view the NSIC's press release announcing the Midco Sports Plus partnership: https://cspbears.com/news/2026/7/16/athletics-midco-sports-launches-nsics-new-streaming-home.aspx
 
For streaming support and troubleshooting, visit Midco's support page: https://sports.midco.com/support
 
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 2026-27 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 gameday but purchases are card-only and include additional fees. The best way for fans to make their gameday 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 live in-game updates, close game alerts, 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.
 
COACHES SHOW RETURNS TO TWIN CITIES RADIO
The Coaches Show with Joshua Schumacher is back on the Twin Cities airwaves for a seventh 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 show features interviews with student-athletes junior linebacker Jonas Barros and fifth-year punter Caden Carsen. 
 
For fans who miss the live show over the air 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!

2026 SEASON CAPTAINS
CSP head coach Joshua Schumacher and the coaching staff have announced the captains for the 2026 season. Captains were selected through a collaboration with student-athlete voting and coach input. 

Representing the Golden Bears will be fifth-years Carter Zezulka (WR), Manny Harris (RB), Ben Rehl (LB), Percy Robertson (DL) and sophomores Lincoln Graf (QB) and Logan Bockman (OL).

SERIES HISTORY: BSU 12, CSP 8
Entering the 21st meeting, Bemidji State holds the edge in the series 12-8. It will be the Beavers' sixth trip to Sea Foam Stadium which opened in 2009, with Concordia holding a 2-3 record at its new home against BSU. BSU's last trip to Sea Foam Stadium was for homecoming in 2021, a 42-14 win for the visiting Beavers. 

The teams haven't played since 2023 and the last two meetings have been in Bemidji in 2022 and 2023. BSU has captured wins in the last three games in the series with CSP's last win in 2019, a 24-23 overtime win sealed with Preston Piltoff, an Atlantic Community High School (Fla.) graduate along with multiple current CSP players, intercepting BSU's two-point conversion. 

Concordia had won four of the first five matchups from 1999 when it joined the NSIC/NCAA Division II ranks through 2003 and had won five of the first seven meetings through 2005. The teams also split six contests played between 2010 and 2019. 

DEFENSE & SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES
Last week saw a defensive struggle as the Golden Bears were edged 13-10 to the University of Mary in a game where each team had five sacks with UMary besting CSP with an 11-9 TFL advantage. Concordia won the turnover battle, securing a fumble on a muffed kickoff and didn't commit any offense. CSP held Mary to 271 yards of total offense and an impressive 67 yards on 40 rushing attempts for jus 1.7 per carry. But CSP was also stymied, picking up 142 yards of total offense on the day. 

On the year, Concordia is ninth in the nation with 3.0 sacks per game, 31st in the nation with an NSIC-best 7.0 TFLs per game, a 5-to-1 turnover margin that ranks 21st in the land with its five turnovers caused ranking 25th. CSP has a defensive touchdown (pick-six), a blocked punt with none allowed, four interceptions with none thrown and the offense has converted 7-of-8 fourth downs. 

Concordia has had a pair of games with 5 sacks, both at home (QU & UMary). 

It's been a balanced, team-oriented approach on the defensive side with Jonas Barros leading the team with 16 tackles as nine players have 10-plus tackles. Marquis Coleman adds 15 tackles, a team-high 4.0 TFLs and 2.5 sacks, Ben Rehl has 14 tackles, 2.0 TFLs and five pass breakups. Jude Onuoha leads the team with 3.0 sacks as 10 different players have been in on at least a half sack. CSP's interceptions have come from four different players including Aydin Buchanan with 11 tackles and a sack. 

Punter Caden Carsen had a big performance last week, regardless of wind direction, as he held UMary to an average starting position at the 14 yard line on his seven punts, averaging 46.3 yards with six inside the 20 and two of 50-plus with a long of 54. He's helped the team to the nation's 36th-ranked net punting unit, third-best in the NSIC at 39.0 yards. Freshman kicker James Graves has converted 75% (3-4) of his field goal tries with a long of 49 into the wind at MSU Moorhead and 9-10 on PATs. Ryan Schroeder has handled 11 of the 14 kickoffs with a touchback while the kickoff unit has recovered an onside kick and forced an opposing muffed kick recovered by CSP. 

BUSY BACKFIELD FOR THE BEARS
Concordia has had a productive running back room to start the season with BJ Davis (26-155) and Joel Lacy (28-157) leading the way on the ground, followed by Manny Harris (19-93). The trio has only had a combined 15 yards for loss among 73 shared rushing attempts. All three average at least 4.9 per carry led by Davis at 6.0.

The backfield committee also shines in the pass game, with Harris leading the roster with 13 catches for 108 yards, while Lacy is tied in receptions (13) for 94 yards. Davis has tallied one catch for seven yards. 

The trio has a knack for the end zone as Davis leads the team with three TDs (all rushing), while Lacy has one rushing and one receiving and Harris has a pair of receiving TDs. 

They also produce on special teams. Lacy has a blocked punt while Davis (2-42) and Harris (2-39) have contributed in the return game. 

ABOUT THE BEMIDJI STATE BEAVERS
The Beavers are just two years removed from NCAA playoff football, going 10-4 overall and 7-3 NSIC in 2024, winning road playoff games at Angelo State and Western Colorado before falling on the road 27-23 at Minnesota State. 

The 2025 season was a different story as BSU went 4-7 overall, 4-6 in the NSIC but salvaged a .500 finish against the NSIC North Division (3-3). 

Entering 2026, BSU was picked third in the 7-team NSIC North and seventh in the 14-team NSIC overall preseason poll. 

They are off to a 1-2 start, with a one-sided win (38-0) over SMSU in week two, a one-sided loss at Minnesota State (13-30) and opened the year with a two-point loss at home to Michigan Tech (31-29) in non-conference play. 

The Beavers have been strong defending the pass, ranking 19th in the nation with 133.3 passing yards allowed per game, 20th in the country in team pass efficiency defense (98.0) and 15th nationally with 3.0 sacks per game - all leading to the 26th-ranked total defense, allowing 278.7 yards per game. 

On a team with five different players completing passes, it's Bart McAninch who leads the team (28-55-1) with 500 yards and three TDs while adding two rushing scores. He's hit on big plays, ranking ninth in the country with 17.9 yards per completion. Three of his top four targets have 20-plus yards per catch: Zavery Guerra (9-186), Tyree Lockett (5-101) and Hudson Omoke (3-89) while Lucas Peterson (11-138) leads the team with two receiving TDs. 

The run game is also crowded with five players toting the ball at least 15 times and seven at least six times led by Antonio Brown (17-81), averaging 4.8 per carry and a TD while three others have two TDs each.