THE SERIES: Heading into the ninth meeting all-time between Western Illinois and North Dakota State, the Leathernecks trail the series between the two schools 6-2. After splitting their first two meetings, Western Illinois has lost four in a row to North Dakota State. In fact, two of Western's last three defeats to the Bison have come by one score, as the Leathernecks fell 17-10 in 2014 and 21-13 last season. Interestingly enough, Western Illinois is 2-1 all-time inside the FargoDome.

THE RANKINGS: Western Illinois ranks 10th in the STATS FCS 'Top 25' poll and 12th in the FCS Coaches poll. North Dakota State is ranked second in both polls.

ANOTHER HOT START: With Western Illinois' 49-30 victory over Missouri State, the Leathernecks have started their season 5-1 for the second consecutive year. Prior to these last two campaigns, Western Illinois had not begun a season 5-1 since 2003. This marks the first time since 2002 and 2003 that the Leathernecks have recorded consecutive 5-1 starts to a campaign. Western actually hit that 6-1 plateau six times in a nine-year span from 1997-2003. On Saturday in Fargo, Western Illinois will look to begin a season 6-1 for the first time since starting 11-1 in 2002.

SCOUTING THE BISON: Winners of five of the last six FCS National Championships, North Dakota State has scored the most points per game (47.5) of any team in the nation and allowed the fewest (9.2). The Bison pile up 312.2 yards per game on the ground, the second-highest figure of any FCS squad. Lance Dunn is averaging 9.0 yards per carry on 67 runs to total 604 yards, and his 12 rushing touchdowns is also first in the nation. At quarterback, Easton Stick is completing 70.2 percent of his passes for 913 yards, 12 touchdowns and no interceptions. He has also run for 264 yards and three touchdowns on 9.1 yards per scoot. RJ Urzendowski leads North Dakota State with five receiving touchdowns. Defensively, the Bison have yielded just 109.8 passing yards per game, the fewest in the nation. Their 188.8 yards surrendered per game is also best in the FCS.

WESTERN ILLINOIS CAREER RANKINGS: Brett Taylor is one of 12 players all-time with 300 career tackles (394). He is six away from becoming the fourth Leatherneck to 400 career tackles, and the Macomb native ranks fourth all-time in school history in career stops, 15 from tying Pat Bayers (1979-82) for third. His 232 solo tackles are fourth all-time in WIU history. Bayers ranks third in program history with 261 career solo tackles.

ON THE OFFENSIVE: Western Illinois racked up 49 points in their victory over Missouri State, marking the third time this season that the Leathernecks have tallied 40 or more points. It also represented the fifth occasion with at least 38 points. The last time Western scored 40 or more points in a game that many times in a season was during the 2010 campaign, when the Leathernecks had five outbursts of 40-plus points.

RACK UP THE YAC: All seven of Western Illinois' touchdowns in their 49-30 win over Missouri State came from at least 21 yards away, another sign of the Leathernecks' big-play offense over the past few weeks. Through the first three contests of the year, Western Illinois registered 19 plays of at least 20 yards. However, over their last three games, the Leathernecks have nearly doubled that output, compiling 37 plays of 20-plus yards. Wide receiver Jaelon Acklin has been responsible for 22 plays of 20 or more yards, with 18 of those coming on passing plays. He has nine touchdowns of at least 20 yards.

McGUIRE'S ON FIRE: With 5,684 career passing yards, Western Illinois quarterback Sean McGuire is just 316 yards away from becoming the sixth Leatherneck quarterback to 6,000 career passing yards. He is currently into seventh place in school history in that category, while his 222.5 yards of total offense per game is the best in program history. On the season, McGuire ranks sixth in the nation in passing efficiency (170.8), seventh in yards per attempt (9.37),  11th in completion percentage (66.9), 13th in passing touchdowns (15) and 18th in both passing yards per game (268.5),and passing yards (1,611). Over the last 18 quarters of play, McGuire is 102-for-146 (69.9 percent) for 1,402 yards, 15 touchdowns and one interception. He was named MVFC co-Offensive and Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 24 and Oct. 8, respectively. Additionally, against South Dakota, McGuire's 441 passing yards were the third-most in a single game in program history, with his 31 completions one away from tying the record.

SACK LUNCH: After compiling just 13 sacks through 11 games last season, Western Illinois head coach Charlie Fisher hired Tony Grantham to be the Leathernecks' defensive coordinator, and the pair established a new 3-4 scheme designed to attack the quarterback. With three more sacks against Missouri State, Western Illinois has now pushed their season total to 18 in just six games during the 2017 campaign. The Leathernecks' 3.0 sacks per game is third in the Missouri Valley Football Conference and 16th nationally. Western Illinois also leads the conference and is fourth nationally with 8.9 tackles for a loss per game.

TAKE IT AWAY: Western Illinois forced another turnover against Missouri State, keeping their turnover margin on the season to +11, the second-best mark in the MVFC and the fourth-best in the nation. The Leathernecks' 15 takeaways is 12th-best nationally, and Western's four giveaways are the fifth-lowest in the FCS. Western Illinois has now forced at least one turnover in 46 of their last 53 games. They have multiple takeaways in 14 of the last 24 contests, including 18 total over the past seven games.

CATCH A STAR: Western wide receiver Jaelon Acklin entered this season with 21 career catches for 364 yards and two receiving touchdowns. However, the senior has blown up in 2017, catching 46 balls for 828 yards and eight receiving touchdowns. The Mountain View, Mo., native is second in the nation in receiving yards per game (138.0), total  touchdowns (11) and all-purpose yards per game (170.5), third in receiving yards (828), fifth in receiving touchdowns (eight) and seventh in receptions per game (7.7).

STONEWALL DEFENSE: Western Illinois yielded just 35 rushing yards to Northern Iowa, marking the second time this season the Leathernecks allowed fewer than 50 rushing yards in a game. In their 2017 opener, Western Illinois held Tennessee Tech to zero net rushing yards. Prior to this campaign, the last time the Leathernecks surrendered no more than 50 rushing yards in a game was against Indiana State in 2014. Western Illinois' rushing defense is 23rd nationally by surrendering 111.2 yards per game.

ROAD WARRIORS: Finishing the 2016 season 4-2 on the road, Western Illinois matched the highest road victory total since winning five away game during the 2003 season. The four road wins matches the combined total from years 2010 through 2013. Just four road games into the 2017 campaign, the Leathernecks have already matched their away win total from last year.

VALUABLE ROAD EXPERIENCE NEEDED: Having played six road games last year has already benefitted the 2017 Leathernecks. Western won its first three games on the road to begin the season for the first time ever. In addition, the seven total road games this year are the most since the 2015 squad eventually played eight road games (two in the NCAA Playoffs). The seven regular season road games in 2017 are the most in program history.

LEATHERNECK QUICK HITTERS:

• Western Illinois is 42-76-1 (.353) all-time against ranked opponents, including 28-57 (.329) in conference play.

• The Leathernecks have dominated opponents this year when it comes to time of possession. Western has won the time of possession battle three times this year, holding the ball for 37:20 against Tennessee Tech, 39:03 at Northern Arizona, 33:03 at Coastal Carolina and 31:38 at Northern Iowa. Last year's season-best was 36:50 at Missouri State. The Leathernecks rank second in the MVFC and ninth nationally in time of possession with their 33:10 average. This year, Western has held the ball for more than 10 minutes in a quarter three times (11:09 4Q at Tech; 11:18 2Q at NAU, 10:14 4Q at NAU). The team did that seven times all last year.

• The Leathernecks did not run a play in the red zone during their 49-30 victory over Missouri State, but Western Illinois still ranks first in the MVFC and second nationally by scoring on 95.5 percent of their red zone possessions. The squad's only miss in 22 trips this year was getting inside the 20 during their final drive at Northern Arizona, which ended when Western ran out the clock to end the game. The Leathernecks also finished 7-for-7 in the red zone against Coastal Carolina.

• Western Illinois has excelled on both sides of the ball on third downs. The Leathernecks rank 24th in the nation by converting 43.9 percent of their third downs. Meanwhile, their defense ranks 11th nationally by holding opponents to a 29.8 percent success clip on third downs this year.

• Related to their success on third down offensively, Western Illinois ranks in the top 25 in scoring offense (fourth, 41.8 points per game), total offense (12th, 469.0 yards per game) and passing offense (22nd, 272.5 per game). On defense, helping their success on third down has been a dominant rush defense that ranks 23rd nationally by yielding 111.2 yards per game on the ground. The Leatherneck defense leads the conference and is fourth nationally with 8.9 tackles for a loss per game, with their 3.00 sacks per contest places third in the MVFC and 16th in the nation.

• Jaelon Acklin is 172 yards away from recording the eighth 1,000-yard receiving season in Western Illinois history. Acklin is averaging 138.0 yards per game through the air this year. With three contests of at least 100 yards receiving this year, he's also one more 100-yard game away from tying for the fifth-most 100-yard contests in a single season in program history. Four players currently have put up five such games in a single campaign, the most in school history.

• In 28 career games (21 career starts), Sean McGuire has registered 10 career 300-yard passing games. The Franklin, Wisconin native is also tied for third place in program history for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback (8). He's four away from Steve LaFalce in second place in school history.