No. 7 North Dakota opens Missouri Valley Football Conference play on the road Saturday, September 26, against Indiana State at Memorial Stadium in Terre Haute, Indiana.
Kickoff is set for 1 p. m.
ET, with live coverage streaming exclusively on ESPN Select.
North Dakota enters at 3-1 after a 34-7 road loss at Nebraska last week, while Indiana State sits at 2-2 following a win over Valparaiso.
The Fighting Hawks are coming off playing in front of 86,000 fans, but coaches and players said the focus is squarely on the Sycamores.
North Dakota Prepares for a Dangerous Road Test
Offensive coordinator Danny Freund called Indiana State a threat at home and said the conference opener will demand a strong week of preparation.
"They're dangerous at home," Freund said. "We know that.
It's going to take a great week of prep. It's a more than capable team, and they're going to be hungry to start Valley play, too."
Recent meetings have been tight.
North Dakota lost 35-31 at Indiana State in 2024 when UND was ranked 15th, and won in overtime at home in 2023.
Head coach Eric Schmidt said the response to the Nebraska loss matters more than the result itself.
"For us, it really comes down to our response," Schmidt said. "We talk a lot around here about going 1-0.
It's not just going to be our response or what we do Saturday afternoon or Saturday late morning."
"It's about us ... how we attack (Monday).
It's going 1-0 on Tuesday. Every rep, every day, making sure that we try to go 1-0."
Schmidt said the team felt the weight of the Nebraska loss when it returned to practice facilities on Sunday.
"It's not a bad thing when guys show up on Sunday and you sit in that pain for a little bit because you know when you do things like we do and put in a lot of effort and time ...
the best teacher at times can be how you feel after a loss," Schmidt said.
"We talk a lot around here about you either win or you learn.
I think the only way you lose is if you hit the eject button and quit, or if you don't get the lessons that you need to get in order to learn."
"I think it's important to not be a repeat offender.
When you put a lot of effort and attention into something and come up short, you're going to hurt."
Linebacker Ethan Boll pointed to the depth across the Valley schedule.
"It's any given Saturday, right?" Boll said.
"It's Valley play. Every team in the Valley is super deep."
"They always have a good offensive line, good skill positions, good tight ends. The quarterback's pretty good.
Anybody that we play from here on out is going to be tough."
"It's Valley play, let's go."
Quarterback Jerry Kaminski said starting fast on the road will be key.
"You only get so many Saturdays to go out there and play," Kaminski said. "We'll be ready from the start.
It'll be important for us to start fast, kind of create our own energy and momentum."
"I think we did a good job of that at Portland State.
Transitioning that over a little bit to an earlier game, it's just going into it with a lot of energy and having a great week of prep this week."
The game will not air on traditional television networks.
Viewers can access the live stream through the ESPN App with ESPN Select or ESPN Unlimited subscription packages.
