This week: The Fighting Sioux remain on the road this week when they travel to Hammond, La. to take on Southeastern Louisiana. The Lions are a Southland Conference program and a fellow member of the Football Championship Subdivision. Saturday night's kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Strawberry Stadium.

Media information: Saturday's game 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 coach Mike Berg as his color analyst. Former UND defensive back Kelly Howe provides sideline reports. Live stats are also available on www.FightingSioux.com.

The game can be heard live in Hammond, La. on KSLU-FM (90.9).

Ticket Information: Tickets for Saturday's game can be purchased at ticketsXchange.com. Visit www.LionSports.net for ticket prices.

On the Fighting Sioux: North Dakota tallied its first win over a Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) opponent on Thursday evening when it defeated Idaho State, 38-35, on the road in Pocatello, Idaho. Josh Murray (Pepin, Wis.) led the Sioux offensive with a career-high 204 yards on 23 carries with one touchdown. Murray scored on a 26-yard run and added a 25-yard kick return. Senior quarterback Danny Freund (Kenosha, Wis.) went 20-for-26 passing with 237 yards and three touchdowns. He connected with Brady Trenbeath (Cavalier, N.D.), Brandon Brady (Bloomington, Minn.), and Marcus Tibesar (St. Paul, Minn.) in the end zone and handed off to Murray and Brady to help the Sioux to the three-point victory over the Bengals. At the end of ISU's first possession, senior defensive back Drake Otto (Kenosha, Wis.) had already logged five assisted tackles and one solo. By the end of the second quarter, he had added a fumble recovery and two quarterback hurries.

The Sioux led the Bengals by 21 points before ISU could put a mark on the scoreboard. At one point, Idaho State turned a 31-7 deficit to a 31-28 ballgame in three-straight drives. Even with the comeback, the Bengal's were held off as the Sioux scored again to take a 10-point lead that ISU couldn't overcome.

The series with SEL: This marks the first time that the Fighting Sioux and the Lions have met at the 50-yard line.

On the Lions: Last week, Southeastern Louisiana fell to 2-2 overall despite another 400-plus yard offensive performance. Louisiana Tech used two Southeastern turnovers to break the game open with a 10-0 third quarter and improved to 2-1 in the victory. The two teams combined for 885 total yards in a wild game between the two former Gulf States Conference rivals who were meeting for the first time since 1985.

Southeastern junior quarterback Brian Babin set new single-game career highs for completions and attempts, hitting 32 of 59 passes for 322 yards. The 300-yard performance was the second in as many weeks for the St. Amant native, who threw for a career-high 330 yards versus South Dakota last Saturday.

Sophomore wide receiver Andre Cryer caught seven passes for a career-high 138 yards and a touchdown to lead the Lions. Cryer's touchdown catch came from junior wide receiver Chris Wilson, who completed his first career pass, while also finishing with six catches and 64 yards.

Freshman Simmie Yarborough also caught seven balls for 83 yards for Southeastern. Senior running back Jay Lucas amassed 99 total yards in the contest, as Southeastern put up a season-high 440 yards and recorded 23 first downs. 

Southeastern was led defensively by sophomore linebacker Mark Newbill, who finished with eight tackles, two forced fumbles, 2.5 tackles for loss and a sack. Junior defensive back Brian Reynolds also had eight stops for the Lions, while junior Tommy Connors, sophomore Ryan Godare and freshman Devin Jones had seven tackles each.

In the weeks prior, the Lions won their first game against Alcorn State, 34-28 before falling to Mississippi State, 34-10. SLU bounced back in Week 3 with a tight, 31-30 victory over South Dakota.

southeast louisiana head coach Mike lucas: When Mike Lucas was named the 14th head football coach in Southeastern Louisiana history on December 14, 2006, his main focus was to quickly stabilize a young program that was affected by two seasons of distractions.

But with his many years of experience in the Southland Conference, learning under some of the league's legendary mentors, and gaining the trust and admiration of his players, Lucas has the Lions back on track as they enter their fourth season in one of the top football conferences in the Football Championship Subdivision.

Officially named head football coach at the end of the 2006 campaign after serving the previous two seasons as defensive coordinator, Lucas is familiar with the ingredients that are needed to be a consistent winner in the Southland Conference.

Lucas took over the program on an interim basis for the final three games of the 2006 season before embarking on his first full season as head coach in 2007. With a new quarterback and tremendous youth on the defensive side of the ball, the Lions showed dramatic improvement and played with the heart and determination needed to win championships.

Southeastern finished the 2007 season with a 3-8 record, but the foundation for a successful gridiron future was laid under Lucas' guidance.

Offensively in 2007, Southeastern relied on the play of All-SLC running back Jay Lucas along with first-year starter Brian Babin, who made great strides during the season at quarterback and fifth-year wideout Byron Ross, who provided the Lions on of the top deep threats in the league.

With an extremely youthful defense, featuring as many as seven true freshmen on the field at one time, Southeastern displayed Lucas' hard-nosed style of play in every game during the season.

Highlighted by Tommy Connors, a sophomore and one of the elder statesmen on the defensive side, and true freshman Mark Newbill, the Lions finished near the top of the FCS national rankings in turnover margin.

On the road: North Dakota has won 23 of its last 35 games on the road. The Fighting Sioux were perfect last season in away games until the final game of the season where they lost to Grand Valley State, 21-14. Over the last six seasons, the Sioux are 5-1 when it comes to their second road game of the year.

MURRAY - Stepping up and making the plays: Josh Murray ran for another career-high as he helped lead the Fighting Sioux to a 38-35 victory over Idaho State. On foot, the sophomore from Pepin, Wis. totaled 204 yards on 23 carries with one touchdown and averaged 8.9 yards/carry. His touchdown came off of a 26-yard run on the first play of the second quarter and his longest carry came later that quarter on the Sioux's second possession. When the whistle sounded at the half, Murray had already gained 120 yards on 11 carries with an average of 10.9 yards/carry. Twenty-five of Murry's total yardage came off of a kickoff return midway through the second quarter. His 204 yards more than doubled Idaho State's total 83 net yards and was four times as much as any other UND running back. In addition to his ground yardage, Murray also caught one pass for nine yards.

Sack city: North Dakota has added another two notches on the Sack City board. In Thursday's game against Idaho State, Ty Boyle (International Falls, Minn.) and Ward DeMontigny (Washburn, N.D.) landed their first sacks of the season and combined for a total 24 yards lost.

After being held without a sack in its first two games, North Dakota finally took down an opposing quarterback, and they did so three times. Senior defensive lineman Mike Ebanks (Orlando, Fla.), senior outside linebacker Tyson Giles (Warren, Minn.), and freshman outside linebacker Brad Kelley (Coon Rapids, Minn.) tallied a sack apiece. It was the first career sack for Kelley, the second for Giles, and the third for Ebanks.