What Lies Ahead:  The Minnesota State Mavericks open the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and road portion of its schedule Saturday as it travels to Northern State for a 1 p.m., contest. 

It's Been a While:  Minnesota State and Northern State have played four times in the history of the series, with the Mavericks owning a 3-1 record.  MSU won the first three games (17-7 in Mankato, 38-12 in Aberdeen and 35-6 in Mankato) before dropping a 16-14 decision on Oct. 9, 1971, in Aberdeen.

What's in a Win:  A win would give MSU its 369th win in school history, pushing the Mavericks over the .501 level all-time...A victory would be the 21st victory for head coach Todd Hoffner at MSU and the 67th victory of his career...A win would mark just the third time in the last 10 seasons that MSU has won its road opener (2009, 31-13 win at Truman State and 2004, 49-35 win at Oklahoma Panhandle State) and the second consecutive road opener...A win would also push MSU to 3-0 in NSIC openers since joining the league...Finally, a win would mark the 19th win for the Mavericks in the NSIC.

A Little History Lesson: The 2010 season marks the school's 84th season playing football.  The Mavericks are 368-367-28 (.500) in 763 games since their inception as a varsity sport in 1922.  Minnesota State is in its third season in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and owns a 18-2 record in league action.  Over the course of its history, MSU has claimed 17 conference championships including 15 NIC titles.

Lifting the Lid:  Following MSU's 7-6 win over Northern Michigan, the Mavericks improved to 37-41-6 in season openers and are 2-1 under head coach Todd Hoffner. 

All You Gotta Do Is Win By One:  The seven points scored by Minnesota State in the victory marked the fewest points in a victory since Oct. 15, 1966 when the Mavericks defeated Bemidji State, 6-0.

Scouting Northern State:  Northern State opened its 2010 season last Thursday with a 28-24 loss to Southwest Minnesota State in a nonconference tilt in Marshall.  The Wolves found themselves down 21-0 before senior quarterback Joei Fiegler found sophomore wideout Mark Hanley for a 70-yard score.  NSU would score 17 unanswered points to pull within four at 21-17 before SMSU's Gannon Moore scored on a six-yard touchdown run.  NSU added a touchdown with a minute and 12 seconds remaining as Feigler scored on an eight-yard run, but it was not enough as the Mustangs came away with the win.
    Senior running back Montrel Richardson led the squad in rushing with 19 carries for 100 yards and a score, including a 52-yard run.  Fiegler finished the game completing 7-of-17 passes for 123 yards and a score while junior quarterback Nick Wanner completed 8-of-10 passes for 76 yards.  Six different receivers caught passes for the Wolves in the loss, led by redshirt freshman Trevor Mau's four catches.
    Northern State is coached by Tom Dosch who is in his first season with the program.

Weather Report:  According to www.weather.com, Saturday's forecast in Aberdeen calls for a high of 68 degrees with partly cloudy skies and a 20 percent chance of rain.

Can't Make it to the Game?: Fans who can't make it to Saturday's game can follow the action in a variety of ways.  The game will be broadcast over the air on AM 1230 KYSM the Fan Mankato with Mike Sullivan and Casey Lloyd.  If you can't pull in the over the air signal you can listen to the game on www3.mnsu.edu/athletics for free.  A live videostream of the game is available on www.pennatlantic.com, at no cost, and fans can view the livestats of the game at http://www3.northern.edu/athletics/livestats/xlive.htm.

Ticket Information: Tickets for Saturday's game are $9 for adults, $8 for seniors and $5 for students.  All tickets can be purchased at the gate on gameday.

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