Quickly: Sioux Falls (5-4, 3-2 NSIC South) returns home to host No. 1 Minnesota State University, Mankato (9-0, 5-0) for a 1 p.m. kick at Bob Young Field. This is the fourth week in a row that the Mavericks have been the NCAA Division II's top-ranked team. 

The Broadcast
Live Stream: University of Sioux Falls will provide a free live stream of Saturday's NSIC matchup at http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/siouxfalls.portal#

Radio: KWSN (AM 1230/FM 98.1) will air Saturday's game. Player interviews and the Jed Stugart pregame show airs 30 minutes prior to kickoff. Tom Frederick and Tim Hiatt will team up to call the play-by-play. Fans can also tune into the game at KWSN.com. 

Just Another Game: The Cougars are 2-0 against No. 1-ranked teams in the past seven years. No. 2 USF defeated No. 1 St. Francis (Ind.) by a score of 23-19 in the 2006 NAIA Championship game. Two years later, junior quarterback Lorenzo Brown led the No. 2 Cougars to a convincing 23-7 victory over No. 1 Carroll College (Mont.) in the 2008 NAIA title game on Dec. 20, 2008.  

USF By the Numbers

• 8: Different Cougars have been credited with at least half a sack. John Batinich and Evan Gentry are tied for the team lead with three sacks apiece.
• 16: Seniors will play their final home game at Bob Young Field this weekend.
• 19: Consecutive winning seasons for the USF football program.
• 22: Spots the Cougars dropped in the national rankings for 4th down conversion percentage after going 0-for-3 in the loss to Upper Iowa. USF ranks 58th nationally (down from 36th) & 6th in the NSIC at 50.0%
• 24: The Cougars' NCAA D-II ranking for kickoff returns (23.28), down six spots from the previous week. In contrast, Minnesota State is 131st (17.95).
• 179: Points USF has scored in its five victories. The Cougars have been held to 85 combined points in losses to UMD, U-Mary, Winona State & Upper Iowa. 
• 180: Receiving yards for Wes Smith last week at Upper Iowa; making him the first Cougar receiver to record more than 150 yards in the air since Jeremiah Oates hauled in six catches for 162 yards on Oct. 27, 2012 (also against Upper Iowa). 
• 331: All-purpose yards tallied by senior Wes Smith at Upper Iowa (180 receiving-107 KR-44 PR); the second-highest output recorded in the NSIC last week. Winona State running back Chichi Ojika posted 350 all-purpose yards (190 rush-44 receiving-116 KR) vs. SMSU.
• 1,069: Number of yards that the Cougars have already surpassed last season's rushing total by; USF picked up 1,359 yards on the ground in 2012 and have 2,428 yards through the first nine games.

Between the Numbers: TOP
USF has been making the most of meager possession time all season long. The Cougars average 34.6 points per game--sixth in the NSIC--and sit third in the league in total offense, at 494.8 yards per contest. They have already set a new record for offensive plays in a game while their five wins have been by an average of 23 points, but the Cougars have been on offense for 27:04 per game--only Southwest Minnesota State's offensive players spend less time on the gridiron (26:35). The Cougars have only won the TOP battle three times this season (and are 2-1 in those games); SMSU (31:52-28:08), Augustana College (31:05-28:55) and Upper Iowa by the slimmest of margins (30:02-29:58). Minnesota-Duluth owned the clock in the season-opener for both teams (39:17-20:43) and opponents overall have amassed a TOP advantage of nearly six minutes (32:56-27:04).

7-and-Done, 1,000 Yard Club
Junior running back Nephi Garcia's streak of 100-yard rushing games was halted at seven in USF's loss to Upper Iowa. Garcia picked up 80 yards on the ground to  push his season total to 1,068 yards, making him the first Cougar running back to rack up 1,000 rushing yards and at least 10 scores since Ryan Lowmiller blazed his way to 1,487 yards and 21 TD's during USF's 2009 NAIA championship season. With two games left on the schedule, Garcia has a chance to match USF's modern day record for 100-yard rushing games in a season (9), set by Mike Dvoracek in 2005.