MINOT, N.D. – The excitement of Homecoming fills the air as the Beaver football team returns to the turf at First Western Bank Field at Herb Parker Stadium this weekend, ready to host a big game in front of a big Minot State crowd.

Kick-off for Homecoming is at 2 p.m. this Saturday, Sept. 16.

And it certainly will be a big test as No. 5-ranked Minnesota State, Mankato rolls into town, 2-0 on the young season and averaging 580 yards of offense and 42.5 points per game.

"They're loaded," Minot State head coach Ian Shields said. "They have a program that is well built, well established, well supported, they've got a great tradition; they have a lot of things we'd love to have and are working towards trying to gain.

"This is where the bar is set in our conference, with Mankato."

So how do the Beavers, who come in still looking for win No. 1 under their new head coach and still learning new schemes on offense and defense, clear that bar?

"We need to play better football, regardless of who we're lining up against, we need to get off the ball, we need to tackle better, we need to block better, we need to play better fundamental football," Shields said.

That comes with learning from every snap in practice and on game day as the Beavers (0-2) continue to get comfortable with all the new things in the Minot State program.

"We're getting better, the effort is getting better," Shields said, "we just have to get more comfortable out there playing football together in our system. …That's where we have to get to where we can play unconsciously confident. Right now, we're just trying really hard."

But, the Beavers do have positives to continue building on moving forward, like a turnover-free effort last week, along with some big plays on defense like a pair of sacks by Sean Pugh-Sykora on the road last weekend, and interceptions by Ike Mikaele and Knylen Miller-Levi in the season opener.

Offensively, the ground game is gaining experience led by Evan Lovett with 122 yards in two games, and Myles West with 101 rushing yards and his first collegiate touchdown last week.

As for MSU, Mankato, junior Shen Butler-Lawson leads the nation averaging 186.5 yards per game rushing with 5 touchdowns, while junior Christian Vasser has been a potent backup, averaging 87.5 yards per game, which is fourth in the NSIC for an MSU, Mankato run game averaging 345.5 yards per game.

Defensively, junior defensive lineman Cody Brown leads the Mavericks with 3 tackles for loss, while junior defensive lineman Maven Kretche and sophomore defensive lineman Caleb Paulus each have 2 sacks for a balanced defense without a single player in double-digit tackles yet this season.

"Crazy things can happen in the game of football, you never say never," Shields said, looking ahead to Saturday's daunting foe. "We're going to go out and compete.

"Right now, we need to play consistently good football from each play to the next."