(Images courtesy of SCSU Athletics, SMSU Athletics, Winona Daily News, Minnesota-Crookston Athletics, and MSU Athletics)

Week 4 Preview & Players To WatchNate Gunn (MSU-RB)
Gunn is a sophomore that transferred from the University of South Dakota and has immediate fit in with the Mavericks. Gunn has 4 scores and leads the Northern Sun in rushing yards with 496. The race to the rushing lead in the conference should be fun to watch between Gunn and USF All-American Max Mickey, who currently trails the Maverick tailback by 15 yards after 3 weeks.

Adam Connette (UMC-WR)
Connette has been a star for the Golden Eagles for years, and in his senior season he now finds himself among the NSIC elite pass-catchers with 22 grabs for 289 yards and a conference best 4 receiving touchdowns.

Isaiah Frandsen (WSU-WR)
Frandsen is a new arrival in the NSIC, having started his collegiate career at NDSU, but was hampered the last few seasons due to lingering hip injuries. The junior wideout has caught 9 balls so far this year for 219 yards, and 3 scores. Expect to see WSU to lean on this talented new addition more as the season continues.

Nate Huot (SMSU-WR)Dwayne Lawhorn (SCSU-QB)
The sophomore signal-caller has transitioned into his starting role with good success so far, completing 58% of his passes, while throwing for 6 scores versus 3 interceptions. Lawhorn also offers the Husky offense dual threat ability from the quarterback position, running for 32 yards per game and a touchdown.

Games for Thursday, September 21
Mary (0-3) at Upper Iowa (2-1)Games for Saturday, September 23
Minnesota-Duluth (1-2) at Wayne State (2-1)Southwest Minnesota State (2-1) at Bemidji State (1-2)Winona State (3-0) at Minot State (0-3)Northern State (1-2) at Minnesota State-Mankato (3-0)
Concordia-St. Paul (1-2) at Minnesota State-Moorhead (1-2)
CSP is starting to show signs of 2017 looking a lot like 2016. A year ago the Golden Bears got out to a nice start, winning their first two contests before dropping their next nine, most by a lopsided score. This season Concordia once again won their opener and looked good in the process, only to lose in one-sided games against mid-to-upper level squads since.

Moorhead is a tougher nut to crack. A week ago the score indicated they were steamrolled by WSU, and they kinda were. That said, the turnovers in that game (5) were key as MSUM had over 400 yards of offense and far more first downs than the Warriors, but turned the ball over when marching, often. The Dragons have produced the most first downs in the league, but are dead last in turnover margin at -9.

I think MSUM gets back on track and quarterback Demetrius Carr plays cleaner football this week, leading to a runaway Dragon victory.
MSUM 40-14

Augustana (2-1) at St. Cloud State (2-1)Minnesota-Crookston (0-3) at Sioux Falls (3-0)Witt Record YTD: 17-7