All four league games this week feature series that are knotted up.   Southern Illinois and Indiana State have a 23-23 all-time series heading into the weekend; Missouri State and Illinois State are tied in their series at 14-14-1; Youngstown State and South Dakota State have each won five games in their 10 previous meetings; while Western Illinois and North Dakota State have split their first two games in their series.

#3 Southern Illinois at Indiana State (Mediacom)
Terre Haute, Ind. * 12:05 p.m. ET
Series:  Tied, 23-23 * Last Year:  SIU, 60-7
Note:  SIU has won the last six meetings in the series to bring the all-time series to a 23-23 tie.   SIU has outscored Indiana State, 187-20, in the past three meetings.

Illinois State at Missouri State (Homecoming)
Springfield, Mo. * 1 p.m. CT
Series:  Tied, 14-14-1 * Last Year:  MSU, 34-28
Note:  Missouri State has won the past two meetings in the series, but the Redbirds had a five-game win streak prior to the last two years.

North Dakota State at Western Illinois (Hall of Fame, KVLY TV-Fargo)
Macomb, Ill. * 1:05 p.m. CT
Series:  Tied, 1-1 * Last Year:  WIU, 27-22
Note:  Both teams have won on the other teams' home fields in the young series, as the Bison beat Western in 2007 at Macomb, 41-28.

#9 South Dakota State at Youngstown State (Homecoming, MVFC TV)
Youngstown, Ohio * 4 p.m. ET
Series:  Tied, 5-5 * Last Year:  SDSU, 40-7
Note:  The series is knotted up, home and away, while the teams are 3-3 in games played in Youngstown.

For a full set of league notes, including school-by-school schedules/results/notes, please click on the PDF link at the bottom of this page.

Tuning In
 Saturday's game between South Dakota State and Youngstown State (3:07 p.m. CT) is part of the league's television package.  Scott Warmann (PBP), Danan Hughes (analyst) and Mick Shaffer (sideline) will call the action from Stambaugh Stadium in Youngstown, Ohio.

CLEARANCES
MyYTV (Youngstown, Ohio) -- LIVE
KDLT (NBC, Sioux Falls, South Dakota) -- LIVE
Comcast SportsNet Chicago -- LIVE
 FCS Central (10:30 pm CT) -- Delay
 FS Midwest (2 am CT) -- Delay

Sycamores Snap Streak
 Indiana State beat Western Illinois this past week to snap the nation's longest Division I FCS losing streak at 33 games.  Georgetown and Idaho State share the nation's current longest losing streak in the FCS -- at 8 in a row.  Here are the nation's all-time longest in FCS:

80 -- Prairie View A&M
44 -- Columbia
33 -- Indiana State
30 -- Saint Francis (Pa.)
27 -- North Carolina

Roberts Rules
 Indiana State QB Ryan Roberts had a 160 yards and two TDs against Western Illinois.   The 160 rushing yards are the fourth most in the history of the program for an ISU QB.  Julian Reese holds the record (207 in 2001).  The 160-yard game is the third-best in the past 10 seasons for an MVFC QB (13 have rushed for 100+ yards since 2000).  Here are the 13 rushing performances by a league QB since the 2000 campaign.

245, Donte Pimpleton, WKU vs. Illinois St., 11/3/01
207, Julian Reese, INS vs. Illinois State, 11/10/01
160, Ryan Roberts, INS vs. W. Illinois, 10/24/09
152, Matt Rycraft, YSU vs. W. Illinois, 10/11/03
150, Jason Johnson, WKU vs. W. Illinois, 8/30/01
129, Joel Sambursky, SIU vs. E. Michigan, 9/28/02
125, Jeff Ryan, YSU vs. Hofstra, 11/4/000
115, Julian Reese, INS vs. Eastern Illinois, 9/21/02
114, Matt Barr, Western Illinois vs. SDSU, 8/30/07
113, Jason Johnson, WKU vs. Missouri St., 9/22/01
110, Tom Zetts, YSU vs. Illinois State, 10/28/06
107, Nick Hill, SIU vs. Lock Haven, 8/31/06
107, Donte Pimpleton, WKU vs. UNI, 11/10/01

Two Teams Reach 5-0
 Counting South Dakota State and Southern Illinois this year, only 17 teams in league history have started a season with at least five-straight conference victories.  All of the previous 15 teams to start 5-0 finished second or better in the league standings.  Fourteen of the 15 earned playoff berths; and 14 won the title.  Nine of them went undefeated in league play.  Only three times in league history (1987, 2003, 2009) have two teams started 5-0 or better the same season.

Unchartered Waters
 On Oct. 13, 2003, Southern Illinois (6-0) faced UNI (5-0) in a battle of league unbeatens.  It marked the first time in league history that two perfect conference teams faced each other that late in a season.  League unbeatens South Dakota State and Southern Illinois play each other Nov. 7 in Brookings.  SDSU plays at Youngstown State this weekend, while SIU is at Indiana State.

Will 2 Do?
 Two losses, historically, has eliminated teams from the league title chase.  However, 10 league teams have had two league losses and made the playoffs.  No league team, however, has had four losses (overall) and earned at at-large playoff bid.  SIU, in 2006, became the first league school to have three league losses and make the playoffs.

Winning on the Road
 In 2007, UNI set a league record by winning six road games.  Only 12 teams in league history have won five road games in a season and all of them reached the playoffs.  No previous league team had claimed six road victories in a season, although both Western Kentucky (2002) and Youngstown State (1997) won six away from home in a season as each won the national title in those respective seasons.  Southern Illinois and South Dakota State are perfect on the MVFC road this year (2-0), while Missouri State has won four league road games in a row, dating back to last year.

Another Long Touchdown
 Indiana State QB Ryan Roberts' 91-yard touchdown run against Western Illinois set an Indiana State record for longest rushing score, and it matched the third-longest rushing TD this season in the MVFC. The league has had six touchdown plays of longer than 90 yards this year, including four rushes.

LONGEST TD PLAYS IN MVFC THIS YEAR:
95, Nick Mertens-Gary Williams, NDSU vs. ILS (pass)
93, Deji Karim, SIU, vs. Illinois State (rush)
93, Todd Speight, WIU, vs. Sam Houston (kick return)
92, Deji Karim, SIU, vs. Western Illinois (rush)
91, Pat Paschall, NDSU, vs. Wagner (rush)
91, Ryan Roberts, INS vs. Western Illinois (rush)
88, Patrick Stoudamire, WIU, vs. Missouri St. (fum)
88, Todd Speight, WIU, vs. Sam Houston (punt return)
88, Jarred Herring, UNI, vs. Saint Francis (kick return)

Two Reach 1,000 Yards
 Only 10 times in the league's 25-year history has a league RB reached 1,000 yards in seven or fewer games.  Pat Paschall of North Dakota State got 1,017 yards in his first seven games, while Southern Illinois' Deji Karim has 1,025 yards through the Salukis' first seven contests.  It marks just the second time in league history that two RBs reached 1,000 yards through seven games during the same season (the other coming in 2006).

National Rushing Leaders
 Western Illinois RB Herb Donaldson, the league's all-time leading rusher, led the nation in rushing and scoring as a senior in 2008.  This year, the league has four candidates who are currently challenging for the nation's rushing title, as SIU's Deji Karim leads the nation while NDSU's Pat Paschall ranks No. 2.  Notably, four league rushers are in the Top 6 in the NCAA rankings.

Rushing Yards Per Game, National Leaders
1 Deji Karim, Southern Illinois, Sr. 146.43
2 Pat Paschall, North Dakota State, Sr. 145.29
3 David Sinisi, Monmouth, Sr. 123.86
4 Kyle Minett, South Dakota State, Jr. 114.14
5 Ryan White, Austin Peay, Jr. 113.86
6 Dre Gibbs, Western Illinois, Sr. 112.29
7 Taiwan Jones, Eastern Washington, So. 105.13
8 Trevyn Smith, Weber State, Sr. 103.43
9 David McCarty, Albany, Sr. 102.00
10 Nick Schwieger, Dartmouth, So. 101.33

Leading the Nation
 Several league players rank among the national leaders through eight weeks in the season.  Here are league players and teams who rank in the Top 3 nationally:

#1 - Deji Karim, SIU (146.4 rushing yards/game)
#2 - Deji Karim, SIU (202.9 all-purpose yards/game)
#2 - Korey Lindsey, SIU (.86 interceptions/game)
#2 - Eyad Salem, ILS (8.71 receptions/game)
#2 - Pat Paschall, NDSU (145.3 rushing yards/game)
#3 - South Dakota State (pass efficiency defense)
#3 - UNI (pass efficiency)