FARGO — Not only is the North Dakota State at Illinois State kickoff scheduled for prime time, a lot of ratings will be on the line Saturday night when the Bison and Redbirds tee it up. NDSU is No. 1 in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision. ISU is No. 6.

It’s what the FCS is these days. The Missouri Valley Football Conference and Big Sky Conference hold down seven of the top 10 spots in the Stats Perform top 25 media poll. The Bison get two of those teams in the next two weeks: ISU on Saturday and at home against No. 10 Southern Illinois on Oct. 11.

The first one is the only night game on NDSU’s schedule with a 6 p.m. start. The game can only be seen on ESPN-Plus because it is the Valley game of the week.

“We’re expecting a fist fight here and we have to get ready to play,”

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