The first of the two games is scheduled to be played Nov. 20, 2010, at Coughlin-Alumni Stadium in Brookings, S.D. The Jackrabbits will make a return trip to Grand Forks, N.D., on Sept. 7, 2013.

"We are excited to renew our football series with South Dakota State University," North Dakota athletics director Brian Faison said. "The home-and-home series give the Fighting Sioux the opportunity to compete against an established Division I FCS program and gives our fans a quality home game to enjoy."

Longtime rivals as members of the North Central Conference, the two schools have met 83 times in football, with UND holding a 46-32-5 series advantage. The series has been dormant since 2003, when UND recorded a 25-24 victory at Coughlin-Alumni Stadium. Following the 2003 season, SDSU left the NCC and moved to the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) ranks. UND, which is in the reclassification process to NCAA Division I status, began playing an FCS schedule in 2008.

"I'm excited to renew the series with South Dakota State and to bring them back here in 2013," head UND football coach Chris Mussman said. "It will be a challenge for us to go down and play in Brookings, but Coughlin-Alumni stadium always has a great atmosphere. This will be something new for our players. No one in our program, other than coaches, has been involved in a game against South Dakota State. "

South Dakota State completed the 2009 season with an 8-4 overall record, including a runner-up finish in the Missouri Valley Football Conference with a 7-1 mark. The Jackrabbits made their inaugural appearance in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision playoffs in 2009 and finished the campaign ranked 11th in both the final Sports Network and FCS Coaches' polls.

In 2009, North Dakota tallied its seventh-consecutive winning season with a record of 6-5 and finished runner-up in the Great West Conference with a mark of 2-2.

With the addition of the South Dakota State game, the Fighting Sioux will now play an 11-game schedule in 2010. UND's schedule features a pair of games against 2009 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams, two games against FCS playoff teams and five home games.

For the second time in two years, the season will begin with a pair of games on the road. The Sioux will kickoff the 2010 schedule on Sept. 2 in Moscow, Idaho in the Vandals' home opener at the Kibbie Dome. This is the third consecutive year and the fourth year overall that North Dakota has opened the season on a Thursday. Since 1894, UND has played 26 times on a Thursday. Idaho is playing its first non-Saturday game since 1960.

UND will remain on the road at it travels to Dekalb, Ill., to take on the Northern Illinois Huskies.

North Dakota will kick off the home schedule on Sept. 18 when it hosts Northeastern State in the 45^th annual Potato Bowl USA. The Riverhawks will be the first Potato Bowl opponent from Oklahoma. UND will then entertain Southland Conference member Northwestern State (Sept. 25).

The Sioux will open the Great West Conference slate on Oct. 2 in Vermillion, S.D., against longstanding rival South Dakota before returning home to entertain Southern Utah in an Oct. 9 UND Homecoming game.

After a week off and a conference game at Cal Poly (Oct. 23), the Sioux will play their final two games in the Alerus Center. Before ending the conference schedule with 2009 GWC champion UC Davis (Nov. 6), UND will host first time opponent Lamar (Oct. 30).

The Fighting Sioux will wrap up the 2010 schedule on the road with a Nov. 13 game against Big Sky Conference champion and FCS runner-up Montana in Missoula, Mont., and the Nov. 20 game against SDSU.

With just over one week remaining in the spring football season, North Dakota will scrimmage one more time before the 2010 Canad Inns Sioux Spring Game. The final scrimmage will take place at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 17 at Memorial Stadium. The spring game will begin at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 24 at the Alerus Center. For more details on this year's spring game visit FightingSioux.com.

-Go Sioux-