The University of North Dakota and North Dakota State rivalry dates back to 1894, tying it for the eighth oldest college football rivalry West of the Mississippi River; among the likes of Oregon-Oregon State's "Civil War" and Texas-Texas A&M.
 
There are countless memories and players in the history of the UND-NDSU series, and no doubt everyone has their favorite, likely the same as many others, depending on which team you root for, of course.
 
For the first time since 2003, North Dakota State will meet North Dakota in Grand Forks, marking just the third appearance by the Bison in the Alerus Center. The last time NDSU appeared in Grand Forks, both teams met for the famed Nickel Trophy. Little did anyone know that it would be the last time the two teams met for the 75-pound prize, which now resides at the Heritage Museum in Bismarck.
 
To say this rivalry is special is an understatement. It is who we are as North Dakotans and citizens of the Red River Valley and beyond. Everyone knows someone that played in this game, and everyone knows the implications of victory and defeat.
 
Some of the most well-versed historians in the series are the Athletic Communications Directors, more commonly known as Sports Information Directors, who chronicle the teams for the athletic department and act as a liaison between the media and the programs. Most can set the scene for the game, rattle off the stats and personnel as fast as they can say their child's middle name, and give behind-the-scenes stories that do not appear in the highlights or recaps.
 
Since 1953, the University of North Dakota has employed a mere 10 department heads for the ever-evolving Sports Information/Media Relations/Communications department. Mr. Lee Bohnet (1928-99) was the first full-time SID in UND Athletics in 1953 after serving our country in World War II and scribing for the Grand Forks Herald. While Lee is no longer with us, his legacy and connection to the University of North Dakota remain a constant in former student assistant Kent Keys - a long-time member of the UND football and basketball stat crews - and his Magnum Opus, "A Century of UND Sports," which is still used in the department to reference the past.
 
While this feature is not an oral history of the series, it simply serves as a short memoir of the fond memories of those that served the University of North Dakota Athletics Department in a public relations capacity. While they were not always visible to the fans, they were always there; these are their evocations.
 
Matt Scheerer
UND Director of Communications, 2019-21
 

"Serving as media relations director for UND athletics from 2000-2008 was a career highlight for me, and I will always cherish getting to experience the UND-NDSU football rivalry. They say the whole state of North Dakota watches, listens or goes to the games, and I consider it one of the best rivalries in all of college sports. The media attention during the week leading up to the game makes it the busiest week of the season. The first time UND and NDSU played at the Alerus Center was in 2001, and more than 13,000 fans were on hand to see a Fighting Sioux win enroute to the NCAA Division II national title. After UND won in Fargo in 2002, the teams met again at the Alerus Center in 2003. I remember issuing more than 100 media credentials for that 2003 game in Grand Forks, with media from all over the state on the sidelines as UND won an exciting overtime game."

Dan Benson
UND Athletic Media Relations Director, 2000-08
 
 
"I had grown up in Detroit, accustomed to Big Ten rivalries like Michigan-Ohio State and Michigan-Michigan State. What I quickly learned at UND was that the UND-NDSU rivalry was every bit as intense and exciting as those I had come to know in the Big Ten.
 
"My most vivid memory was the game in 1993. NDSU had won 12 straight in the series, but UND had only lost to NDSU by a point the year before and had a good team coming back in 1993. The key play in the 1993 win was linebacker Mike Mooney stripping the ball from an NDSU runner and taking it back for a touchdown. The goalposts came down and the UND players were carrying the Nickel Trophy around on the field. I was so happy for Roger Thomas and the staff and players. I was relatively new to the rivalry, but I could tell how much it meant to UND fans.
 
"I have a lot of photos and memorabilia from almost 32 years working in college athletics and one of the photos I have in my "fan cave" is of RB Shannon Burnell carrying the ball during that 1993 win over NDSU."

Justin Doherty
UND Sports Information Director, 1992-94
 
 
"My first exposure to the rivalry was in the fall of 1995, almost immediately after I first stepped onto campus as a freshman intern. That's when NFL Films was there working on the Football America documentary. I was in awe – "Wow, this isn't normal; this is big-time" – and you can't help but realize there's something deeper with this rivalry, something I'd certainly never experienced before as a fan.
 
"So, I was indoctrinated right away. From that point on, it's just a flood of memories – Jim Kleinsasser's three touchdowns in the Fargodome, a Jamaal Alkins kick return touchdown, Travis Lueck doing his thing, that fourth-down stop and Digger Anderson holding the Nickel Trophy over his head.
 
"From a press box sense, everything was bigger behind the scenes for those games. More reporters, a statewide broadcast, more staffers from the visiting school, and extra bounce in everyone's step. But as I look back, I'm really proud that no matter the stakes in the standings, the tension in the stands, or the bad blood on the field, folks from both schools always kept it professional. They did their jobs as they would for any other game on the schedule. But if your side won, you definitely walked out of that stadium feeling just a little bit bigger."

Jayson Hajdu
UND Media Relations/Communications Director, 1995-2018
 
 
"I've seen a lot of games from the press box, but the 1974 Sioux-Bison game remains an all-time classic for me. Big time players made big time plays in big time moments. To this day, I don't know that I've seen better back-to-back plays then Bison defensive end Jerry Dahl returning a blocked punt 71 yards and "Magic" (Ron Gustafson) running the kick return back 90 yards on the next play. It set the tone for the rest of the day and it was the best game I ever saw. But I'll always remember watching the 1998 Jimmy Kleinsasser game at home on TV and Bison Head Coach Bob Babich saying 'that young man made a lot of money for himself today' because the NFL scouts were all over him after that."

Kent Keys
UND Athletics Stat Crew & editor of "A Century of UND Sports", 1974-Pres.
 

"Where to start with the Sioux-Bison/Bison-Sioux rivalry week?  I have a unique experience with this game as I am a 1990 graduate of NDSU and a former Sports Information Director at UND (1995-96), with apologies to the likewise late, double-dipping Ed Schultz of course.
 
"I was also never a rabid football fan so any desire to see a team win was dedicated almost exclusively to the people I knew in each program while at each school. That's the thing I remember most about each school, team and this week in general — the number of classy people with whom I got to work and spend time. Having spent almost 30 years working in athletics on the East Coast I can tell you there are no people like Minnesota/North Dakota people in terms of camaraderie, helpfulness and overall character.
 
"The rabidity of the fan base is already pretty solid, but it's magnified by 100 when these teams play each other. NFL Films was doing its documentary on the series when I was at UND and while a big deal, the Sabol family and the film cameras were a minor distraction to the larger game at hand.
 
"Great to see this rivalry not only rekindled but involve two very competitive teams and programs."

Jeff Nygaard,
UND Sports Information Director, 1995-96
 
 
"Games between UND and the other institution to the South, regardless of the sport, were a big part of my time with the Fighting Sioux. While I've worked at other universities since and seen their rivalry games firsthand, NOTHING compares to the UND/NDSU football games. As someone who spent most of the 1998 game running between the field and the press box as Phillip Moore eventually broke the North Central Conference career rushing record, most people will remember that game as the "Kleinsasser's running to the NFL" game. However, I recall having the opportunity to lift "The Nickel" overhead a few times and carrying it to the locker room. I still have my "UND – undefeated in the dome" hat, which someone handed me. And yes, UND won the 1996 and 1998 games so it's an appropriate memory for my time at UND."

Matt Schmidt
UND Sports Information/Media Relations Director, 1996-99
 

"When I came to UND in the late 1980's, Head Coach Roger Thomas was in the early stages of rebuilding the North Dakota football program. At that time, we closed out our schedule each year against North Dakota State. Although our fans were excited and passionate, and our players driven by the rivalry, we were not in the same class as the Bison. Under Roger's guidance, we closed the gap in each meeting
 
Roger assembled a great coaching staff, including offensive coordinator Rob Bollinger and defensive coordinator Dale Lennon, and that group shaped a powerhouse that was able to beat the Bison, and become a force on the national level in the 1990s. Dale built on that progress; and produced a national championship for UND in 2001.
 
"Over the years, my wife Kathy (a UND graduate and a former football cheerleader) and I have watched several UND-NDSU games at gatherings that included friends, family and often strangers; some rooting for UND and some for NDSU. Our favorite was the 1998 game, when Jim Kleinsasser snatched a quick slant pass and rambled 77 yards to break a 25-all tie and propel UND to a 39-25 victory, We watched that game from a jam-packed Joe Senser's restaurant in Bloomington, MN, which was hosting alumni gatherings from BOTH schools, with a staff that hadn't realized that it would have prudent to separate the two gatherings. UND fans left happy; NDSU fans and the overwhelmed staff departed shocked and stunned.
 
"We are excited that the UND-NDSU rivalry has resumed. I believe that the long and spirited competition between UND and NDSU has driven both programs to greater achievement, and I am proud to have taken part in the rivalry. Kathy and I will be rooting for UND on Saturday!"

Doug Skipper
UND Sports Information Director, 1988-1992
 
 
"I grew up watching the old Sioux-Bison games on TV then later outside the stadium in the old Ralph parking lot, inside Memorial Stadium as a student and then in the press box at the Alerus Center. It's great to have this game back in Grand Forks. You always remember certain moments in these games. Everyone can point to Mike Mooney's fumble recovery in 1993 as a watershed moment. I was a freshman at UND and the goal posts came down on a victory that snapped a long losing streak in the series for UND. That's always been a pivotal moment in this rivalry and turned the tides as North Dakota won 10 of the final 13 games in the DII era and six of the last eight games to be played in Grand Forks.
 
"These games are usually defined by players stepping up in big moments. Dan Graf scoring early in 2001 and later adding another for a 19-7 win in UND's NCAA Championship season. John Bowenkamp making his first collegiate start, playing for an injured Kelby Klosterman in 2002, and getting a win in the Fargodome. The next year, Travis Lueck racking up a couple long catches for scores and Digger Anderson's big fourth-down stop in overtime to win the last game these teams played in Grand Forks back in 2003. All moments we're still talking about years later."

Mitch Wigness
UND Athletic Media Relations/Communications, 2002-05, 2012-21