Sept. 17, 2005

BELLINGHAM, Wash. -

JOE SUNNEN, THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

The Western Washington University football team struggled stopping St. Cloud State at home last weekend. So what makes the Vikings think they can handle a better University of North Dakota team on the road?

Well, nothing really. And that might be the Vikings' biggest asset against the No.4 ranked Fighting Sioux. This is Western's third game in three weeks against a Top-25 opponent.

"These kids have tremendous pride and when you lose like we did to St. Cloud that pride takes a blow," WWU coach Rob Smith said. "What champions do is get back on their feet. And what a great opportunity this is for us to play arguably one of the best teams in Division II."

With two losses in a row and several injuries on the offensive side, the Vikings (1-2) meet the Fighting Sioux (3-0) standing on the wobbly legs of a prizefighter knocked in the face three times too many.

Short practice weeks and what seems like a persistent black cloud of bad luck has sapped some of the swagger from a team that started the season with playoff aspirations.

"What we need as a unit going into this one is to stay confident," sophomore receiver Casey Dell said. "I think we can do that. We'll be OK."

North Dakota enters the game undefeated, having beaten Central Washington, No.15 West Chester (Pa.) and Winona State (Minn.) convincingly. They have three preseason All-Americans, have been to the NCAA Division II playoffs five of the last seven years, and haven't lost a home game since 2002.

"North Dakota is solid in every way," Smith said. "Their defense may be the best I've seen in 17 years. They are aggressive, they run, and they force the issue. So much of what they've done this year has been set up by their defense."

Factor in that this week happens to be the Potato Bowl, a week- long festival that traditionally culminates with the football team mashing its opponent, and all of a sudden the best part of the trip to Grand Forks, North Dakota for the Vikings will be the direct flight back to Seattle on Sunday.

The Fighting Sioux are 28-11 in the Potato Bowl and have won nine of the last 10. Their last loss came against Central Washington in 2002.

"It's going to be loud and they are going to be excited," Smith said. "They play in a dome that holds about 13,000 and they usually draw 11,000 for the Potato Bowl. It's their version of Ski to Sea. It doesn't make it any easier on us."

Notes: The NCC is 4-0 against GNAC schools this year and WWU is 2-5 against NCC opponents over the last three seasons. ... The Fighting Sioux advanced to the semifinals of the playoffs last season before falling to Pittsburg State, Kan., 19-13. ... Six of Western's top nine tacklers weren't on the team last season. Sophomore transfer Shane Simmons leads the team with 25 tackles. ... North Dakota linebacker Digger Anderson has 274 career tackles and is two short of the school mark. He had 104 stops last season.