MINOT, N.D. -- The Minot State football team will face its stiffest challenge of the season thus far as it hits the road to face No. 1 Minnesota State on Saturday (Oct. 13) at Blakeslee Stadium. Kickoff for the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference contest is set for 1 p.m.

THIS WEEK: Minot State plays its third road game of the season today as it visits top-ranked Minnesota State in a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference contest in Blakeslee Stadium.

LAST TIME THEY MET (SEPT. 1, 2016 IN MINOT, N.D.): No. 7 Minnesota State powered its way to a 35-7 victory over Minot State in the season opener for both teams at Herb Parker Stadium. The Mavericks rushed for 291 yards on the day. Minnesota State, which had three rushers over 55 yards on the afternoon, accounted for four touchdowns on the ground. The Mavericks held a 21-0 lead at halftime and put the game away by scoring a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter. Minot State got on the scoreboard in the fourth quarter when Zac Cunha hit Taylor Maloney for an 8-yard touchdown pass.

LAST TIME OUT FOR THE BEAVERS: Freshman Lofton Klabunde caught his first career touchdown pass, but it was not enough to overcome Upper Iowa as the Peacocks defeated the Beavers 44-9 in a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference game at Herb Parker Stadium. Upper Iowa, which rushed for 290 yards, jumped out to a 16-0 lead at halftime and salted the game away with three third-quarter touchdowns. Minot State got a safety from freshman linebacker Ryan DeMarois and the touchdown reception from Klabunde to account for the Beavers points on the afternoon.

KO STEPPING UP: Senior Kywan Owens has made his presence felt since being inserted into the starting lineup at free safety against Minnesota Crookston. Against the Golden Eagles, Owens made a career-high 14 tackles and has averaged 8.3 tackles in the three games he has started. Last week against Upper Iowa, Owens made seven tackles and had a forced fumble.

ALREADY THE BEST FOR THE BEAVERS: Senior cornerback Kiante Goudeau is already the Beavers career leader in interceptions in the NCAA Division II era. Goudeau, who has played in 17 games at Minot State, has eight career interceptions. He had five interceptions last season and has three through six games this year.

GETTING THE GROUND GAME GOING: Minot State rushed for 121 yards last week against Upper Iowa, which marked the Beavers second-highest total of the season. Sophomore quarterback Ben Bolinske led the way with 48 yards rushing, while Lane Torgerson had 43 yards on the ground. The return of Lee Webb from injury has also helped the Beavers ground game as he rushed for 32 yards against the Peacocks and had 35 yards at Sioux Falls.

NEARING THE CENTURY MARK: Junior wide receiver Lavante Bushnell is closing in on 100 career receptions at Minot State, and he needs just three catches to reach 100 in his career. Bushnell leads the Beavers with 27 catches for 314 yards and four touchdowns. When he reaches the 100-catch plateau he will become just the fourth player in the DII era to reach that milestone. He also has 10 career touchdown receptions, which ranks third in the DII era behind only Porter Sturm (17) and Glyn Borel (11).

ABOUT MINNESOTA STATE: Minnesota State enters the game as the No. 1 ranked team in NCAA Division II. The Mavericks are 6-0 on the season and are coming off of a 42-20 victory at Minnesota State Moorhead. The Mavericks are averaging 41.8 points and 459.7 yards of offense a game this season, while allowing 18.8 points and 304.5 yards of offense a game.

NOTING THE BEAVERS: Sophomore Ben Bolinske is 71-128 for 739 yards on the season...Bolinske has thrown six TD passes...Bolinske also leads the team with 304 yards rushing and three touchdowns...Senior Chris Rivers leads Minot State with 42 tackles and he also has two INT's and a fumble recovery...Senior Kiante Goudeau leads Minot State with five takeaways (3 INT, 2 FR)...Freshman Logan Krueger tops the team with 2.0 sacks...Freshman Ryan DeMarois is the Beavers team leader with 6.5 tackles for loss...Lane Torgerson leads the Beavers with 451 all-purpose yards (186 rushing, 72 receiving, 1 punt return, 192 kick return)...Junior Lavante Bushnell is second on the team with 403 all-purpose yards...Sophomore Ben Bolinske tops the team with 1,043 yards of total offense and he is averaging 173.8 per game...Lavante Bushnell and JoseLuis Moreno lead the Beavers with 24 points...JoseLuis Moreno is 4-5 on field goal attempts and 12-13 on extra-point attempts...JoseLuis Moreno is averaging 42.2 yards per punt and has 11 punts over 50 yards...Kiante Goudeau is averaging 21.2 yards per kick return...Lane Torgerson is second on the team with 12 receptions and Demond Short is third with 10 catches.