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THIS WEEK: Minot State University finishes the season with a familiar foe Bemidji State. The two teams have started the season for the past 13 seasons in nonconference play known as the “Beaver Bash.” This is the first season in which the two teams meet as conference rivals.

RECORDS: MISU is 3-7 overall and 3-7 in the NSIC North Division. BSU comes into the weekend at 6-4 overall and 5-1 in the NSIC North.
 
COACHES CORNER: Minot State's head coach is Paul Rudolph. Rudolph is 31-30 overall in five seasons with the Beavers and 74-77 overall as a head coach. Bemidji State's head coach is Jeff Tesch, who is about to complete his 17th season with BSU and is 112-71 record.
 
FOLLOW THE MSU BEAVERS: The game is broadcast locally on KCJB 910-AM with Scott Kittell calling the play-by-play. Live audio can be accessed online at kcjb.com. MSU provides live video and live stats as well as links to the live audio at msubeavers.com. Minot State Athletics also is active on Facebook, Twitter and You Tube with all feeds accessible through the home page.
 
RANKINGS: Neither team is ranked in the AFCA Coaches' Top 25 Poll or the D2Football.com poll this week.
 
RECENT HISTORY: Minot State was defeated 57-10 by St. Cloud State in its home finale last week, while Bemidji State topped Minnesota State Moorhead 35-25 to win possession of The Battle Axe.
 
OVERALL SERIES: Bemidji State holds a commanding lead in the all-time series, winning 12 of 13 meetings.
 
NOTING THE BSU BEAVERS: Bemidji State turned its season around during NSIC North play, winning five of six after dropping three of four to NSIC South opponents… BSU Associate Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator Rich Jahner is a Minot State graduate… It's fitting that senior quarterback Lance Rongstad is the team's leading rusher and passer as BSU is nearly split equal in running and passing yards. Bemidji has gained 1,678 on the ground and 1,983 through the air. Rongstad has passed for 1,889 yards and 13 touchdowns and rushed for 507 and seven TDs…. BSU's Cory Crosby was named the NSIC Defensive Player of the Week last week, finishing with 17 total tackles… The Northern Sun has provided plenty of points on the season as BSU is the third-best scoring defense while giving up 20.6 points per game. The Beavers are second overall in the league in yards per game, surrendering just 319.5 per game.
 
DEFENSIVE BRAGGING RIGHTS: The battle is on between Minot State linebackers to see who will be the tackle champion for 2012. Casey Weinmann (So., Selz, N.D.), Chad Marshall (Jr., Hazen, N.D.) and Brett Mohr (Sr., Southey, Saskatewan) all have a fighting chance to finish as the leader. Weinmann has 75 (29-46) so far this season to lead the Beavers. Marshall will look to challenge Weinmann in his bid to lead the team for the second straight season as he comes in trailing by eight tackles, totaling 67 (21-46) this season. Just a couple behind is Mohr, who has put together a solid senior campaign with 64 (22-42) total tackles.
 
JUST FAKING IT: Minot State faked two punts against St. Cloud State, using two different styles to pull it off. Freshman Aaron La Deaux (P/K, Port Orchard, Wash.) gained 17 yards – a season high – on a fake punt rush, giving him 25 total yards rushing this season. But maybe the biggest surprise was a 14-yard pass from Bobby Bartz (Jr., OL/TE, Harvey, N.D.). He completed his first pass of his career a week after he gained his first rushing yards of his career. On the season, Bartz has five catches for 35 yards, is 1-for-1 passing for 14 yards and has four yards rushing. Not bad for the 6-foot-3, 275 pound offensive lineman who once won a wrestling dual for the Beavers in his only match of his career.
 
HEADED NORTH: Minot State hopes to end the season on the way up as the Beavers have a chance to secure a winning record in NSIC North play in its first season in the conference. Speaking of north, the game between Minot State and Bemidji State is played between two of a group of schools who are geographically the most northern in the country.
 
STRANG STAT: Minot State freshman quarterback Zac Cunha (Rocklin, Calif.) set a career record with 22 completions against St. Cloud State and only had 12 incomplete passes, but had his third worst output on the season as a starter, passing for 186 yards. Cunha has completed at least 64 percent of his passes over the past three games and has thrown for 14 touchdowns in his first season as the Beavers signal caller.