THIS WEEK: Minot State will play its second away game of the season in Sioux Falls, S.D. as they take on Augustana University on September 26 at 1 p.m. This is the final North-South crossover game of the season and marks the final game of the four-year calendar for the Beavers in the NSIC as MSU will now have played in all 16 away stadiums after Saturday.

RECORDS: The Beavers (0-3, 0-3 NSIC) lost their previous game against Concordia, St. Paul. Augustana (2-1, 2-1) is coming off of their first loss of the season against Minnesota State Moorhead.  

COACHES CORNER: Minot State's head coach is Tyler Hughes, who is in his second season at the helm. He is 1-10 at Minot State and 21-14 overall as a head coach, all at Snow College in Ephraim, Utah, where he coached from 2011-12. Hughes spent the 2013 season as an assistant coach with Urban Meyer at Ohio State. Jerry Olszewski is in his third year as the head coach at Augustana. With a 10-12 record in his first two years Olszewski has led the Vikings offense to new heights. In 2014 Augustana set a single season record with 5,124 yards of total offense averaging 34.5 points per game. Before joining Augustana Olszewski spent five years with St. Olaf College compiling a record of 32-18. Prior to taking on head coaching duties he was the offensive coordinator of the Indoor Football League's Green Bay Bombers. Olszewski has experience in the Northern Sun area as he served twice on the staff at Minnesota State (1993-97 and 1999-00) .

FOLLOW THE 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, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube with all feeds accessible through the home page.

RANKINGS: Neither team is ranked in either the American Football Coaches Association Poll or the D2Football.com polls.

RECENT HISTORY: Minot State lost their second home game of the season against Concordia, St. Paul last week with a score of 28-13. After gaining a 13-7 lead the Beavers had the Golden Bears' offense in check allowing the only touchdown to come from a kick return. Late in the second half the Concordia offense started to gain momentum with two quick touchdown drives that gave them a 21-13 lead over MSU. With a true freshman quarterback at the helm for the Beavers a late game drive ended in an interception returned for a touchdown resulting in the final score. In a tough fought one point loss Augustana fell to MSU Moorhead 35-34. Down 3-21 the Vikings were trailing early. After a touchdown and a safety the momentum swung and Augustana was able to come back and take the lead from MSU Moorhead. After trading a few more points the Vikings found themselves ahead 32-28. MSU Moorhead scored a touchdown and gave up their second safety of the day to move the score to its final.

OVERALL SERIES: Minot State won its sole game against Augustana in the series at home in 2013.

LAST TIME OUT: In the 2013 home opener the Beavers defeated the Vikings in a triple overtime game that ended with a touchdown reception from Wayne Peters as he was on his back catching a ball that had been tipped. The final offensive stand for Augustana ended after failing to convert on a series where they had a first down at the seven-yard line and a third-and-goal at the one yard marker. Wide receiver Porter Sturm (Sr., Roy, Mont.) ended the day with four receptions for 69 yards and a touchdown.

NOTING THE VIKINGS: Augustana was almost at a 3-0 record after winning their first two games and slipping in their third by a one point deficit. The Viking offense is once again leading a high powered attack averaging 411 yards per game and the second best scoring average in the NSIC with 36.7 points per game. The running game is something Augustana has control over on both sides of the ball gaining 160.7 yards per game, but only allowing 87.7 yards for opponents each week which is good enough for third fewest in the conference. In the air the Vikings also have the top receiver in the country in junior Charlie Hayes who has 389 yards and five touchdowns in 2015.  

CHANGES IN THE BACKFIELD: After leading the team in rushing in the first two games Jarvis Mustipher (Jr., RB, Melbourne, Fla.) did not have any carries in the third game against Concordia, St. Paul. Leading the ground game instead was Larry Overstreet (Jr., RB, Lehigh Acres, Fla.) who carried the ball 20 times for 75 yards. Lining up at quarterback for the first time was true freshman Isaiah Weed (Bonney Lake, Wash.). Weed completed over 51 percent of his passes but turned the ball over twice late in the game when the Beavers were looking for a comeback drive.

TURNOVERS NOT ENOUGH: The Minot State defense forced three turnovers in its game against Concordia, St. Paul with two fumble recoveries and an interception. With two interceptions coming against Winona State the Beavers have five forced turnovers so far this season they have gained 90 yards off of returns. The offense for MSU has given up eight turnovers in 2015.

PLAYING WITH ALL-PURPOSE: Senior wide receiver Porter Sturm (Roy, Mont.) is currently third in most all-purpose yards in the NSIC. With 224 yards on kick returns, 189 yards receiving and three yards rushing Sturm's total of 416 is one of just four players in the Northern Sun to pass the 400 mark three games into the season. With one rushing attempt and 12 receptions Sturm is averaging 14.8 yards per touch on offense while averaging 20.36 yards on 11 kick returns.

BY THE NUMBERS

3: Interceptions from three different defensive backs. Seniors Maurice Talley (Elk Grove, Calif.), Isaiah Steinwand (Minot, N.D.), and Marcel Brinson (Gilroy, Calif.) have each intercepted the ball once this year for the team's three picks.

34: Average rushing attempts per game for Minot State. Despite point differentials of 31 and 15 in the past two games the offense has remained consistent in its rushing numbers.

170: Penalty yards given up by Minot State. With 22 total penalties and 56.7 yards per game coming from those penalties the Beavers rank in the bottom half of the conference. MSU opponents, however, have averaged 84 yards per game in penalties ranking second in the NSIC.