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Aberdeen, S.D. – The Northern State football team continues home play this weekend for the annual Gypsy Days celebration. 2015 marks the 100^th year of Gypsy Days. The Wolves will face off against No. 7 University of Sioux Falls at 2:30 p.m. from Swisher Field. Fans are reminded that the south tailgate lot is set to open at 12 p.m.
 
Northern enters the Gypsy Day weekend 0-3 after losses to Upper Iowa, No. 1 Minnesota State, and Wayne State. The Wolves are coming off their best offensive performance from NSU redshirt freshmen quarterback Kyle Lavand who threw for two touchdowns and 365 yards against the Wildcats. Lavand propelled the NSU offense with a season high 27 points and earned NSU Athletics Qdoba Athlete of the Week honors. His longest pass of 56 yards was thrown to tight end Cody Kraft. Cameron Pudwill proved to be a threat yet again on both sides of the ball with a team second best 14 yards rushing on third and short downs, as well as two tackles on the defense. Channing Barber led the NSU defense with seven tackles and 1.5 tackles for a loss. Senior Devin Olson leads the defense with 25 total tackles, 19 of which are unassisted.
 
Each week the NSU Football team names both an offensive and defensive scout team player of the week. This week's honorees are linebacker Joe Gorghuber and quarterback Jake Comeaux.
 
About the Cougars
• Sioux Falls enters the week 3-0 overall and ranked No. 7 in the nation under head coach Jed Stugart (47-13).
• The Cougars recorded their best season in NCAA DII school history a season ago with an 11-1 record overall.
• USF leads the league in scoring offense (45.0 pts per game) and total offense (515.0 yds per game), while quarterback Luke Papilion is in the top ten in the conference in rushing (84.0 yds per game), passing (242.7 yds per game), and total offense (326.7 yds per game).
• A week ago, the Cougars pulled away with a 35-31 victory over then ranked No. 7 Minnesota Duluth on their home turf. Harlon Hill candidate Papilion passed for 218 yards and rushed for 125 yards and two touchdowns in the victory.
 
Last Match-Up
• The Wolves last faced off against the Cougars in the fall of 2013. Sioux Falls came away with the 45-37 victory on their home turf. Cody Kraft, Conner Doherty, and Taylor Houchin each recorded touchdowns in the loss.
 
A Season Ago
• The Wolves went 8-3 overall and 6-1 in the NSIC North Division in 2014. The Cougars went 10-1 overall and 6-1 in the NSIC South Division, with their only loss coming against national runner-up Minnesota State.
 
Weather Forecast
• The forecast calls for sunny skies with south winds at 15 to 25 mph and a high of 81 degrees.
 
#NSICFB: What's Trending in the League
• Three NSIC teams are on this week's top-25 poll: No. 1 Minnesota State, No. 7 Sioux Falls, and No. 25 Minnesota Duluth
• Michael Strand (MSUM), Demetrius Carr (MSUM), and Alquawn Vickers (CSP) were named the NSIC Players of the week
• Sioux Falls defeated Minnesota Duluth in week three 35-31 in an exciting ranked match-up
• MSU Moorhead and Southwest Minnesota State are both 3-0 and will match-up this week. Last time MSUM was 3-0 was 1987, and last time SMSU was 3-0 was 1991
• Upper Iowa improved to 3-0, crushing Minnesota, Crookston 48-3
• The NSIC South Division has four teams with a 3-0 record, while the North has five teams that are 0-3
• Sioux Falls and Minnesota State are tied for No. 1 in this week's D2 Football Power Rankings segment