WEEKEND PLANS

On Saturday, Nov. 4, the University of North Dakota will vie for its first ever Great West Conference championship when it travels to Davis, Calif., to take on the Aggies of UC Davis. Both teams currently sit with a 5-4 record overall and lead the league at 2-1. Kickoff for the title is slated for 3 p.m. (CT) at Aggie Stadium.

SERIES HISTORY

Saturday's game will mark the third meeting between North Dakota and UC Davis. The current series is tied at 1-1 with both teams capturing its wins at home.

The Fighting Sioux and the Aggies first met in the 2001 NCAA Division II semifinal game. Then fourth-ranked North Dakota defeated the 12th-ranked Aggies 14-2 in Grand Forks and set the stage for its 17-14 national championship victory over No. 2 Grand Valley State.

Last year, UND and UC Davis met once again, this time with a different outcome. In front of a home crowd of 8,876 the Aggies defeated the Sioux 34-21 in the conference opener.

ON THIS DAY IN FIGHTING SIOUX HISTORY

All-time on Nov. 4, North Dakota holds a 3-5 record. The Fighting Sioux are 1-1 at home and 2-4 on the road.

The first game played on the 4th of November was in 1914 when the Sioux fell to South Dakota State 14-3 on the road.

The last time UND played on Nov. 4 was in 1998 when it was defeated by Northern Colorado 14-9 at home.

North Dakota's last road win on Nov. 4 was in 1953 when it defeated South Dakota 18-14 in the final game of the season.

RECORD REWIND

With the 30-24 win over Southern Oregon,  head coach Chris Mussman's career record moved to 11-8, his conference record stands at 3-3, and his record against non-conference improved to 8-5.

All-time, the Fighting Sioux are 600-357-30 on the gridiron.

NOTING THE FIGHTING SIOUX

The Fighting Sioux move into Saturday's championship game with a 5-4 record over all and a 2-1 mark in the Great West Conference ... As a team, the Sioux lead the conference in opponent fourth-down conversions (33.3 percent) and opponent penalties (76.8 ypg) ... UND holds two of the top five rushing performances and four of the top 15 receiving performances this season in the GWC.       

OFFENSIVE NOTES

Junior Jake Landry (Grand Forks, N.D.) is the Great West Conference's fourth-ranked quarterback with 1,668 yards on 148-of-247 passing for an average of 185.3 yards per game. He has thrown a total of nine touchdown passes this season, including four to the league's fourth-ranked receiver, sophomore Ismael Bamba (Montreal, Quebec) ... Bamba, who has recorded 769 yards on 46 catches (85.4 ypg), leads the conference in all-purpose yards (1,126 yards, 125.1 ypg) with the addition of 20 yards rushing and 337 yards on kick return. His receiving yards total ranks him 16th nationally ... Running back Mitch Sutton (Plover, Wis.) is ranked second in the conference with 617 yards on 128 attempts for an average of 4.8 yards per carry and 68.6 yards per game. He is ranked fifth in touchdowns (seven), seventh in both total offense (70.4 ypg) and all-purpose yards (94.3 ypg) and 10th in scoring with 42 points ... Overall, UND is averaging 322.3 total yard on offense per game (130.0 rushing and 192.3 passing) and are 36 percent (41-for-115) on third-down conversions, 25 percent (1-for-4) on fourth-down conversions, and 80 percent (20-for-25) on red-zone scores.

DEFENSIVE NOTES

Tenth-ranked defender in the league, junior Joel Schwenzfeier (Hallock, Minn.) leads UND with 50 tackles (41 unassisted), three pass breakups, a forced fumble, and a conference-leading five interceptions ... Fellow junior Ryan Kasowski (Grand Forks, N.D.) is tied for second in the GWC with five quarterback sacks and is fifth with 7.5 tackles for a loss of 33 yards ... Junior Ty Boyle (International Falls, Minn.) and senior Nick Nolte (Janesville, Wis.) have both registered a team-high two forced fumbles to lead the conference ... The UND defense has held its opponents to 49 percent (60-for-123) on third-down conversions, 36 percent (4-for-11) on fourth-down conversions and 66 percent (27-for-41) on red-zone touchdowns.

SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES

Senior Brandon Hellevang (Fargo, N.D.) is ranked 11th nationally with a 42.11 yard punting average. He is ranked fifth overall in the conference in scoring with 59 points and third amongst his fellow kickers. Hellevang is in a three-way tie for the top spot in field goals with 1.33 per game and is listed third with a .920 (23-of-25) field goal percentage ...    Junior Ty Boyle (International Falls, Minn.) and sophomore Broc Bellmore (West Fargo, N.D.) have both recorded a team-high two blocked kicks ... In his first game on punt return, redshirt freshman Erik Mersereau (Port Washington, Wis.) racked up 80 yards, including a 49-yard return. His 80-yard total is the second-best performance in the league this season ... Sophomore Ismael Bamba (Montreal, Quebec) leads on the kick return team with 337 yards on 14 returns for an average of 24.1 yards per return ... The special teams unit is averaging 42.3 yards per punt while holding opponents to an average of 21.9 yards per kick return and 11.2 yards per punt return.

NOTING THE AGGIES

UC Davis comes into Saturday's game 5-4, 2-1 GWC after taking a 23-10 victory over Cal Poly. After trailing the Mustangs 10-7 going into the half, the Aggies put up 16 unanswered points in the half to set themselves up for a chance for a conference championship.

Last season, the Aggies finished 5-7, 2-1 GWC to take second.

UC Davis' Greg Denham is the GWC's second-ranked quarterback with 2,367 yards on 219-of-345 passing with 25 TD tosses and an average of 263.0 yards per game. He is also third in the league in total offense (252.7 ypg) ... Denham's top receiver, Chris Carter, is second in the conference with 709 yards on 67 catches for an average of 78.8 yards per game and 7.4 yards per reception ... Also important to the Aggie offense is Joe Trombetta who ranks as the ninth-most effective running back in the Great West with an average of 37.0 yards per game, 3.2 yards per carry and five touchdowns.

UCD kicker Sean Kelley and UND kicker Brandon Hellevang (Fargo, N.D.) are neck-and-neck in field goals with an average of 1.33 FGs per game. Both also hold an 80.0 percent (12-for-15) kicking percentage, with a season-long of 52 yards.

Defensively, the Aggies are led by Mike Morales who has racked up 68 stops (40 unassisted) to rank third in the conference. He has also grabbed two interceptions and a pair of pass breakups ... Jacob Maxson is second in the GWC with five sacks (two solo) ... Kenneth Brown leads all of the league with 10 passes defended and Danny Hart is second with three fumble recoveries.

UC DAVIS HEAD COACH BOB BIGGS

Biggs' stamp on the football program at UC Davis is one of success, intensity and intelligence that carried his teams to eight playoff appearances and an average of nine wins per year during his first decade.

Now the second-winningest football coach in UC Davis history, Biggs trails only his mentor, Jim Sochor, on the all-time coaching victories list. His first win in the 1999 season was his 50th, making him one of the quickest coaches to reach that plateau in the nation regardless of division. With a win over former Great West Conference rival Northern Colorado in 2004, Biggs hit his 100th career win in just his 12th year.

In 1993 and 2000, he was named American Football Coaches Association's Region 5 College Division Coach of the Year. In 2002, he won Coach of the Year honors for the inaugural Independent Football Alliance.

MEDIA INFORMATION

All UND football games can be heard on 96.1 FM ("TheFox") in Grand Forks and on stations across the Fighting Sioux Radio Network. Dan Hammer calls the play-by-play with former Grand Forks Central High School football coach Mike Berg as his color analyst. Former UND defensive back Kelly Howe provides sideline reports. You can also listen online at www.FightingSioux.com.

Live stats and live audio will be available on FightingSioux.com and UCDavisAggies.com.

Saturday's game will also be available on CBS College Sports All-Access for a single-event purchase of $6.95.

- Go Sioux -