SETTING THE SCENE
The No. 4 Minnesota State football team returns home to host No. 22 Augustana on Saturday at 12 p.m. at Blakeslee Stadium for Senior Day.  The Mavericks (9-0, 8-0 NSIC) earned at least a share of the program's 12 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference South Division title in a 44-9 win at Southwest Minnesota State last week and can win the outright division title with a win against Augustana.  The Vikings (7-2, 6-2 NSIC) are fighting for their playoff lives and need a win Saturday to stay in the playoff hunt.   The Mavericks will honor 15 seniors playing in their last regular season game in a Maverick uniform prior to the game Saturday.  
 
CALLING THE GAME / HOW TO WATCH
Aaron Worm and John Harrington return to the broadcast booth this season and will have the call of Maverick Football on The Fan KFSP 1230 AM and 103.1 FM, the official radio home of Minnesota State football.  Fans can also listen online through Radio Mankato. Saturday's game will be streamed live on Midco Sports Plus, the exclusive streaming home of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. Every Minnesota State football game during the 2026 season will be available through Midco Sports Plus.
 
THE NEW MIDCO SPORTS PLUS NETWORK
The NSIC enters a new era of digital coverage this season with the launch of Midco Sports Plus. The platform serves as the centralized streaming home for all NSIC athletic events, providing live and on-demand coverage from each of the conference's 16 member institutions. Fans can purchase annual access for less than $7 per month, which includes NSIC and Summit League content. Monthly subscriptions are also available for $15.  The upgraded platform features improved navigation, expanded content access and enhanced viewing capabilities for fans throughout the conference footprint.
 
THE 2026 SENIOR CLASS
Saturday marks the final regular season home game for 15 Maverick student-athletes.  The 2026 senior class has combined for a 49-14 record overall and a 39-10 mark in NSIC play while qualifying for the NCAA postseason each season, reaching the national semifinals in 2024 and a quarterfinal appearance in 2025.  MSU won at least a share of back-to-back NSIC South Division titles in 2026 and shared the division title in 2022.   This season the team is No. 4 nationally and 9-0 on the year and 8-0 in league play.  MSU Athletics would like to congratulate each of these 15 outstanding student-athletes and best of luck in your future endeavors.  The 2026 MSU Football Senior Class includes; Zach Brady, Jason Dandridge, Jacob Daulton, Nathan Drumm, Jack Hawkinson, Antonie Johnson, Jr., Matt Maldonado, Tanner Olson, Jackson Owens, Jabrayan Richburg, Max Sheridan, Justin Silverstein, Jamal Spiyee, Amaun Williams and Josh Witt.  
 
LOOSE MOOSE SALOON TOUCHDOWN LUNCHEON FRIDAY
Don't forget to join the Maverick football coaching staff and select players at The Loose Moose Saloon Friday at 11:30 a.m.  in Mankato.  The luncheon will feature select players and coaching talking about this week's game showdown and recapping the last game in a 44-9 win at Southwest Minnesota State last weekend.  The luncheon will feature a coaching presentation, along with a Q&A with Maverick football student-athletes and video.  The luncheons are open to the public. Following Saturday's game against Augustana, join the Mavericks at The Loose Moose Saloon for the 5th Quarter.
 
RECAPPING LAST WEEK
The Mavericks raced out to a 41-0 lead en route to a 44-9 win at Southwest Minnesota State on Halloween to improve to 9-0 overall and 8-0 in NSIC play.  MSU won for the 23rd time against SMSU and has never lost to the Mustangs in program history.  The Mavericks had a first quarter touchdown from Carter Henderson, before blowing the game open in the second quarter, scoring 27 points.  MSU used a pick six from Johnson, Jr., for the fourth defensive touchdown of the season, while Maldonado kicked a 50-yarder in the fourth quarter.  MSU held a 461 to 253 margin in total offense, while the team registered a season-high eight sacks for 44 yards and held SMSU to just 13 yards rushing.  Sophomore Lebarion Gilmore had four catches for 82 yards and two touchdowns, while Henderson had eight carries for 54 yards and two scores on the ground.  
 
NPI RANKINGS
Newly instituted for 2026, the NCAA Power Index (NPI) will determine this year's NCAA Championship tournament field, replacing ranking committees and previously used selection criteria. The NCAA will release NPI rankings each Sunday throughout the remainder of the regular season leading up to the NCAA Selection Show Sunday, Nov. 15. In the latest NCAA NPI rankings, Minnesota State remained third in Super Region Three and sixth nationally. Ferris State took over the top spot nationally this week and is top in Super Region Three.  Slippery Rock is second in the national rankings, followed by Harding, Northwood and CSU Pueblo round out the top five.  MSU is sixth, followed by East Stroudsburg, Northwest Missouri State, Emporia State and Kentucky State rounds out the top ten.  
 
IN THE POLLS
Minnesota State moved to fourth this week in the AFCA Top 25, while it remained third in the D2Football.com Top 25.  Ferris State leads the way in both polls, followed by Harding, while CSU Pueblo is third in the AFCA Poll and MSU is fourth and vice versa in the D2Football poll.  Minnesota Duluth is 21st in the AFCA poll, followed by Augustana at 22nd and Wayne State enters the poll again at 25th.  In the D2Football.com poll, UMD is 17th and Augustana is 21st.  
 
MSU MOORHEAD GAME CHANGE OF VENUE
The Mavericks' final regular season game, at MSU Moorhead, scheduled for Nov. 14 has moved to the Fargodome in Fargo, N.D.  
 
INSIDE THE SERIES WITH AUGUSTANA
The Mavericks lead the all-time series at 30-27 and have won the last two meetings, but AU has won three of five and four of seven.  Before that, MSU had won nine-straight.   The Mavericks are 18-9 all-time against AU in Mankato, but have dropped the past two meetings there in 2024 and 2021.  MSU's last home win against the Vikings came in 2019 in a 27-7 win on Sept. 14, which also marked the last season MSU competed in the national title game.  MSU head coach Todd Hoffner 11-6 against AU.  
 
SPYING SPIYEE 
MSU senior defensive back Jamal Spiyee registered his fourth interception of the season against Southwest Minnesota State last week and returned it 21 yards. Spiyee finished with six solo tackles.  He is tied for the NSIC lead in interceptions this season, while he has set a new program record with 176 interception return yards for the season.  Spiyee earned NSIC Defensive Player of the Week honors for his efforts against the Mustangs.  For the season, Spiyee has 24 tackles with 19 solo stops, the four INT's and three pass breakups.  
 
PICK-SIX FOR THE MAVERICKS
MSU senior Antoine Johnson, Jr., had a pick-six on Saturday at Southwest Minnesota State marking the fourth defensive score of the season for MSU.  His pick-six came in the third quarter to give MSU a 41-0 lead.  He is the third different MSU defensive player to score this season, along with Jamal Spiyee with two pick-six touchdowns on INTs and Jason Dandridge with one.  The Mavericks are fourth nationally in defensive touchdowns with four.  
 
WITH THE BLOCK
MSU has two blocked kicks this season as it is tied for 60th nationally in blocked kicks and tied for fourth in the NSIC.  Jack Hawkinson and Emmanuel Spiyee each have blocks this season, while Hawkinson's came in the 35-0 shutout of then-No. 22 Wayne State on Oct. 24 with ten seconds remaining to preserve the Mavericks' first shutout since 2021.
 
FIRST IN THE NATION
The Mavericks are tied for the national lead in fewest fumbles lost (1) with NSIC member MSU Moorhead among five others nation-wide, while MSU also is tops in the nation (alone) in red zone defense at a 0.522 clip.  The opposition is just 12 of 23 in the red zone against the Mavericks this season. 
 
AT HOME IN THE BACKFIELD
MSU had a season-high eight sacks for 44 yards and 13 tackles for loss for 54 yards in the win last week at Southwest Minnesota State.  The eight sacks are the most in a game since a school-record ten sacks against MSU Moorhead on Oct. 6, 2018, while the 13 tackles for loss are the most since also have 13 TFL's versus Concordia-St. Paul on Sept. 21, 2019.  For the season, the Mavericks have 33 sacks for 197 yards and 66 tackles for loss for 295 yards.   MSU is fourth nationally in sacks this season, while it is 20th nationally in tackles for loss.  Senior Jack Hawkinson leads the team with eight sacks for 44 yards and has 13 tackles for loss for 57 yards. 
 
GOING FOR DOUBLE-DIGIT WINS
The Mavericks are looking for their 13th season in program history of double-figure wins on Saturday and the third season in a row of double figure victories.  If the Mavericks would be fortunate enough to win Saturday, it would mark the eighth time the program has started a season 10-0 and first since 2019.  
 
TOP TEN NATIONALLY FOR THE MAVERICKS
Minnesota State continues to rank among the national leaders in several statistical categories.  The Mavericks rank:

No opponent has scored more than 17 points against Minnesota State this season, and all nine Maverick victories have come by double-digit margins, while MSU has not scored less than 28 points in a game this season.
 
ABOUT AUGUSTANA
The Vikings enter as one of the top offenses in all of NCAA Division II this season under head coach Jerry Olszewski who is in his 14th season at the helm of the program.  He is 98-49 at Augustana and 130-67 in his 19th season of coaching for his career, while he is 4-8 against MSU.  AU enters the matchup winners of four-straight dating back to a 42-41 overtime loss at Winona State on Sept. 26. Since then, AU has outscored its opposition 168 to 44, including two shutouts versus Concordia-St. Paul and Southwest Minnesota State.  Both losses for the Vikings this season have come by a combined eight points.   AU is in the top ten nationally this season in first downs (3rd/234), fumbles lost (7th/2), passing offense (3rd/346.9), punt returns (7th/17.20), scoring offense (9th/42.0), total offense (7th/484.9) and turnovers lost (5th/7).  Individually, quarterback Gunnar  Hensley has been on a tear this season as he leads the nation in passing yards (3,090) passing yards per game (343.3), while he is second nationally in total offense at 344.9 yards per contest.  In the return game, Neal May is second nationally in combined kick returns (712), while he is second nationally in both punt return yards (17.2) and punt return touchdowns (1).  The Vikings have a standout running back in Breylon Blount who averages 101.1 yards per game with 150 carries and 910 yards on the ground with eight touchdowns.  Max Carlson leads the team with ten rushing scores on 55 carries and 174 yards.  At wide out, DJ Page leads the team with 832 yards on 62 receptions with two touchdowns, while Cody Oswald has 39 catches for 817 yards and six TDs.  Klayton Sattler leads the team with 12 touchdown receptions and is third in reception yards with 652 on 48 receptions.  Defensively Cameron Maciejewski leads the team with 72 tackles and 44 solo stops, which is more than double in solo stops to the next defender.  Tyler Birn leads the team with six tackles for loss for 37 yards and 3.5 sacks for 31 yards.  
 
A WIN OVER AUGUSTANA WOULD . . .

 
THIS WEEK IN THE NSIC
Opening the final month of the regular season things are tight in the NSIC right now two two regular season games remaining.  Matchups around the conference this week include:

   
LOOKING AHEAD
Following the game Saturday, MSU closes out the regular season on Saturday, Nov. 14 at 12 p.m. versus MSU Moorhead at the Fargodome in Fargo, N.D.  NCAA Division II Selection Sunday is set for the evening of Nov. 15 and broadcast live on NCAA.com.