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FARGO, N.D. _ The early season rollercoaster ride for the University of Central Arkansas Bears continues Saturday when they travel north to take on perennial FCS power North Dakota State at the Fargodome.

UCA (1-1) opened the 2023 season at FBS Oklahoma State, losing 27-13. The Bears then hosted Texas College, an NAIA school, last weekend at First Security Field at Estes Stadium, rolling to a 70-2 victory in front of the home crowd.

This week's hill is just as steep, if not steeper, than OSU in Week 1 as the Bears will face the No. 2-ranked Bison in one of the toughest places to win in the country. NDSU, which has won nine of the past 12 FCS national championships, is nearly unbeatable at home in the Fargodome.

The Bison are 185-28 at home and have won 80 of their last 82 home games against non-conference opponents. 

The Bears do have one advantage, having played there once before during the pandemic season of 2020. The difference being the covid-reduced crowd of 471 will pale compared to the 15,000+ expected on Saturday.

"We have to turn the page quickly," said UCA head coach Nathan Brown. "You sandwich a game like (last week) between a Power 5 opponent in Oklahoma State and probably the best program, regardless of level, in college football. You have Alabama and Georgia on pretty good runs now, but if you put their resume against those, they aren't touching North Dakota State.

"Nine out of 12 years you're a national champion, and you're doing that with three separate head coaches, just shows the culture that they have there. It's very impressive. But we're excited about the opportunity, we're excited about the challenge. I talked to our team last night, these are the games you sign up to play for. If you play college football and we're having to get you up for this game, you need to check your pulse. Because these are the games you want to play in, you want to compete in." 

The Bison lost to current No. 1 South Dakota State in the FCS championship game last January after beating Montana, Samford and Incarnate Word in the playoffs. This season, NDSU has wins over Eastern Washington (35-10) at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minn., and Maine (44-7) last Saturday at the Fargodome. The Bison will not play a true road game until Oct. 7 at Missouri State, the latest to play a road game since 1961.

"It's going to be fun. And it's going to be a challenge," said Brown. "But here's what our challenge as a team is. I believe teams walk into Fargo and they're beat before they ever walk in that place. I truly believe that. Because of who they are and what they've done over the past decade plus, teams walk into that place they're beat before they even snap the football. 

"We're not going to be beat before we snap it. I challenged my team on that last night. It doesn't mean that we're not going into an environment that is going to be electric, that doesn't mean we not going in to play a program that is the standard, because it is the standard at our level. But it does mean we're going to go do what we did Week 1, we're going swing at them, we're going to swing for the fence and we're going to see what happens.

"I like our team, I like the makeup of our team. As a matter of fact, we had about a two-hour last night, and it was one of the best Sunday night practices we've had in a long time. So that gets me excited. That sets the tempo and tone for the week." 

The Bears' last meeting with the Bison was close, with NDSU pulling out a 39-28 victory after UCA led 28-25 with 10 minutes left to play. The Bears played a full nine-game schedule that fall while the Bison played just once in the fall and a full schedule in the spring of 2021. NDSU used it as a showcase game for quarterback Trey Lance, who would be drafted No. 3 by the San Francisco 49ers in the spring 2021 draft.

UCA's Nick Nakwaasah intercepted Lance for the first and only time in his collegiate career. UCA has nine players who competed against NDSU in 2020, including wide receiver Jarrod Barnes, who caught six passes for 54 yards. Safety TaMuarion Wilson has five tackles, while linebacker Darin Davenport had a sack and a forced fumble. Safety Cameron Godfrey recorded four tackles and a half sack.

The others who saw action were linebacker Demetrias Charles, defensive end Logan Jessup and offensive linemen William Mayo, Josh George and Justin Lairy.

Current UCA quarterback Will McElvain has experience in the Fargodome, facing the Bison while playing at Northern Iowa.

"When we went there in 2020, we knew what we were getting into. but it wasn't the full effect," said Brown. "Less than 500 people in the stands, it almost felt like a scrimmage. You're in dome, it's just quiet. Just a different deal, you had to be there to realize what it was like. One fortunate thing for us is Will McElvain has started a game in the Fargodome, and had a chance to win the game at Northern Iowa. So we've kind of leaned on him a little bit, what's the noise like, what's the atmosphere like. 

"He's been there, he's played up there when that place was packed."

While the atmosphere will be different than in 2022, Brown knows what to expect from the Bison. 

"This is your old-school, smash-mouth football game," said Brown. "North Dakota State is usually the most physical team on the field when they play every Saturday. They want to run the football, they play with two tight ends, they want to play with fullbacks. They are able to recruit toward that because of their history, their culture."

UCA opens play next week in its first year in the United Athletic Conference, hosting Abilene Christian at Estes Stadium.