Here are some Western Illinois vs NDSU game notes from the NDUS home page.

https://gobison.com/news/2018/10/8/f...ight-game.aspx

THIS WEEK: Top-ranked North Dakota State (5-0, 2-0 MVFC) goes on the road for the second straight week to face Western Illinois (2-3, 1-1 MVFC). Game time is 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 13, at Hanson Field (16,368) in Macomb, Ill.

TELEVISION: Coverage begins at 6 p.m. on KVLY and the NBC North Dakota network with Brian Shawn calling the play-by-play, Lee Timmerman color analyst, and Ryan Gellner on the sidelines. Pregame coverage hosted by Alex Egan and Beth Hoole begins 1 hour prior to kickoff. ESPN+ will carry the Western Illinois production on ESPN.com and the ESPN app with subscriptions starting at $4.99/month.

RADIO: Coverage begins at 5:30 p.m. on the Peterson Farms Seed Bison Radio Network with third-year NDSU play-by-play voice Jeff Culhane joined by NDSU and Buffalo Bills hall of famer Phil Hansen and NDSU sideline reporter Jeremy Jorgenson. Extended coverage locally on 107.9 The Fox, Bison 1660 and 92.7 FM includes "Bison Tailgate" from 2:30-3:30 p.m. with Brad Jones, "Bison Game Day" from 3:30-5:30 p.m. and "Bison Hotline" for two hours following the network broadcast with hosts Keith Brake, Chris Hanson and former NDSU defensive end Cole Jirik.

ONLINE: NDSU All Access offers free audio streaming of all NDSU football games as well as live video of Bison home games to subscribers on GoBison.com/allaccess. Live stats for NDSU home games are available on BisonStats.com. Follow @NDSUfootball on Twitter for game updates.

THE SERIES: This is the 10th meeting between North Dakota State and Western Illinois dating back to 2007, the only non-conference game in the series. NDSU has won five straight and leads the series 7-2 after last year's 24-12 win in Fargo. The Bison are 5-0 in Macomb, but three of those victories have been one-possession games.

LAST YEAR: NDSU shut out Western Illinois in the second half and Easton Stick rushed for two touchdowns in the third quarter as the Bison erased a 12-10 halftime deficit to win 24-12 in Fargo. Stick averaged 6.8 yards on nine carries and finished with 61 yards on the ground while going 11 of 18 through the air for 221 yards. RJ Urzendowski had four receptions for 100 yards and one TD, and Bruce Anderson led all rushers with 21 carries for 93 yards. WIU quarterback Sean McGuire was 17 of 28 passing for 185 yards and Jaelon Acklin made six catches for 115 yards. NDSU's James Hendricks, Caleb Butler and Robbie Grimsley each made five tackles for the Bison defense, which registered five sacks, two other tackles for loss, four pass breakups and two quarterback hurries.

FOURTH QUARTER FINISH: North Dakota State scored four fourth-quarter touchdowns to defeat Northern Iowa 56-31 last week in Cedar Falls. Easton Stick passed for four touchdowns and rushed for two scores to lead NDSU back from an early 14-0 deficit, and the Bison had their first dual 100-yard rushing performances of the season from Bruce Anderson (170) and Lance Dunn (104). The Bison rolled up 523 yards of total offense (295 after halftime) and committed zero turnovers against UNI for just the second time in 12 meetings since 2008. It was NDSU's first turnover-free game of the season.

SCORING HISTORY: North Dakota State's 56 points scored at Northern Iowa were the most scored by an opposing team in the UNI-Dome since the facility opened in 1976, topping the previous high set in 1983 by Southern Illinois in a 52-9 win. It was the most points allowed by UNI against an FCS opponent since a 59-14 loss at Idaho in 1981. For NDSU, it was the eighth time the Bison have scored 50 on a Missouri Valley Football Conference opponent since 2008 and the most since a 59-7 home win over Western Illinois in 2015.

BACK-TO-BACK ON ROAD: North Dakota State is facing back-to-back road games in Missouri Valley Football Conference play for the ninth time in 11 years. The Bison have won both trips in five of eight previous occasions including three straight years after 2017 victories at Indiana State and Youngstown State. Illinois State in 2010 is the only team to deal NDSU a conference road loss (34-24) the week following a Bison road win (34-29 at Youngstown State). NDSU lost the front end of its two-game road stretches in 2008 and 2014 both at Northern Iowa.

NIGHT WINS: North Dakota State has won 23 of the last 25 night games (kickoff at 6 p.m. or later) back through the 2010 season. The only night game losses in that span were 16-9 at Northern Iowa in 2010 and 27-17 to James Madison in the 2016 NCAA semifinal. The Bison have won two straight night games with last year's wins at Youngstown State (27-24, OT) and over Sam Houston State (55-13).

BISON UNANIMOUS NO. 1 IN POLLS: North Dakota State is the unanimous No. 1 pick in both FCS Top 25 polls this week after previous No. 2 James Madison lost at home to Elon. NDSU captured all 26 votes in the AFCA coaches poll and all 160 votes in the STATS FCS media poll. JMU slid to sixth in the media poll and eighth in the coaches poll with its second loss of the year. South Dakota State, which hung on to beat Indiana State 54-51 in overtime, climbed to No. 2 in the media poll to give the Missouri Valley Football Conference the top two spots for the fourth time in league history. Southern Illinois and Western Kentucky held those spots twice in 2005, and the Bison and Illinois State were 1-2 in the final 2014 poll after meeting in the national championship game.

CAPITALIZING ON TURNOVERS: NDSU is fourth in the MVFC with a plus-5 turnover margin, but the Bison have scored a conference-best 49 points off nine opponent turnovers. Linebacker Jabril Cox became the first NDSU player since safety Del Gehrett in 1967 to record an interception return for touchdown in back-to-back games against North Alabama (43 yards) and Delaware (36 yards).

RED ZONE OPPORTUNITIES: North Dakota State leads the MVFC in red zone defense this year allowing opponents inside the 20-yard line only six times with two touchdowns and two field goals. On offense, the Bison have converted 20 of 22 red zone chances with a conference-best 18 TDs.

SHEPHERD PASSES 2,000 YARDS: Senior wide receiver Darrius Shepherd surpassed 2,000 career receiving yards in the win over South Dakota State. Shepherd had five catches for a career-high 118 yards against SDSU and currently ranks seventh in NDSU history with 2,095 receiving yards. He is 137 yards behind Warren Holloway (2008-11) for sixth place on that list.

BISON WINNING LINE OF SCRIMMAGE: NDSU leads the Missouri Valley Football Conference with 18 sacks and the Bison rank sixth in FCS averaging 3.60 sacks per game. Cole Karcz and Greg Menard lead the Bison with 4.5 sacks each. NDSU is also the league leader in sacks allowed (4), rushing offense (288.2) and rushing defense (100.0).

MENARD FOURTH IN CAREER SACKS: Defensive end Greg Menard moved into sole possession of fourth place on NDSU's all-time sacks list with his 32nd and 33rd sacks at Northern Iowa. The school record of 41 total sacks is held by Jerry Dahl (1973-74), Phil Hansen (1987-90) and Kyle Emanuel (2011-14).

LONGEST WINNING STREAK IN FCS: North Dakota State has the longest active winning streak in the FCS with 11 straight victories dating back to last November. Colgate is second on that list with 10 straight wins. UCF (18) and Ohio State (11) have the two longest active winning streaks in FBS.

NINE FRESHMEN PLAY: NDSU has played nine true freshmen this season. Wide receiver Phoenix Sproles, safety James Kaczor and linebacker Jasir Cox all played in the opener against Cal Poly. Quarterback Trey Lance, wide receiver Kenneth Channelle, defensive end Tony Pierce Jr., cornerback Destin Talbert and linebacker Mark Stumpf debuted against North Alabama. Running back Saybein Clark played his first game against Delaware. A new NCAA football rule this year allows student-athletes to participate in up to four games and still take a redshirt year.