Setting the Stage:
• Northern State and Winona State meet on the gridiron for the first time since 2009 and for the first time in Winona since 2008.
• Both teams are coming off Week 2 losses. NSU suffered a 32-30 heartbreaker at home last week and will be going for their first win of the season. WSU is 1-1 overall after a Week 1 win over Minnesota, Crookston and a road loss to No. 2 Minnesota-Duluth.
Last Meeting:
• Winona State used a 21-point first quarter en-route to a 52-17 victory in Aberdeen in the last meeting between the two teams.
• WSU running back Rayon Simmons ran for 167 yards and three TDs on 17 carries for the Warriors.
• NSU's Trent DesLauriers set career-best marks in receptions (7) and receiving yards (96). Brian Jark became NSU's all-time receptions leader with his 218th career catch.
About the Warriors:
• The Warriors, picked to finish fourth in the NSIC preseason poll and the first team listed without receiving a first place vote, enter the weekend at an even 1-1. Senior running back Rayon Simmons - star of the last meeting with NSU - was named as the NSIC Preseason NSIC South Offensive Player of the Year.
Last Week:
• NSU had a nail-biting win wrapped up until the final 30 seconds of the game last week when SMSU's Tyler Peschong found Anthony Dean on a 49-yard Hail Mary down to the NSU 9-yardline. SMSU then kicked a 26-yard field goal as time expired to snatch away the win 32-30.
• Winona State matched up against second-ranked Minnesota-Duluth last weekend, falling 38-16 to the Bulldogs. WSU took an early 7-0 lead, but UMD's Aaron Roth returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown and never looked back.
The series:
• WSU leads the overall series 20-16 and has won the last ten meetings.
Time & Temp:
• Saturday's forecast calls for partly cloudy skies, temperatures around 71 degrees and light winds out of the north around 5 mph. Temperatures will fall to a low of 45 Saturday night. Kick-off is set for 4:30 pm.
About the NSIC:
• The NSIC has expanded once more in 2012 with the addition of Sioux Falls and Minot State as full-fledged members in the now 16-team league. The institutions are the fifth and sixth additional members since the league expanded from 10 to 14 in 2008.
