Bison, Jackrabbits, a 75-pound stone and the best college football rivalry you don't know

It's conscionable a large ol' artifact of stone. It isn't sculpted. It's not bronzed oregon dipped successful gold. It hasn't been carved into the representation of a shot oregon a dude carrying a football. There are nary firm logos. Just elemental achromatic artifact letters embossed into 3 sides of the rectangular rock, speechmaking "S.D.", "N.D." and "190 M."

The quartzite it is made from is astir a cardinal years old, exposed connected the Earth's aboveground by the travel of the Big Sioux River aft its spigot was turned connected much than 10,000 years ago. Yet this trophy is truthful young it couldn't yet bargain itself a portion if it wanted to. But somehow, successful lone 18 years, it has go arsenic timeless arsenic the forces that forged it, the rough-hewn reward for winning what mightiness precise good beryllium assemblage football's astir aggravated rivalry.

It is the Dakota Marker, and each 75 pounds of it volition beryllium hoisted this play connected the level of the Fargodome by either the North Dakota State Bison oregon the South Dakota State Jackrabbits. A brace of schools separated by lone 190 miles (see: that "190 M" engraving), divided by a borderline that is watched implicit by the 800-pound, 130-year-old quarried ancestors of the trophy they combat to possess.

"The Marker would beryllium peculiar each connected its ain conscionable due to the fact that it's truthful chill and the past down it is amazing. It's the communicative of the Dakotas," Carson Wentz explained this summertime erstwhile the Bison-turned-Washington Commanders backmost was asked astir the rivalry successful which helium went 2-0 arsenic a starter. "But past you adhd what is astatine involvement successful this game, what ever seems to beryllium astatine involvement successful this game, and it conscionable multiplies what the Marker means by a hundred."

When the rivals footwear disconnected Saturday (3:30 PM ET, ESPN+), they volition bash truthful arsenic the nation's No. 1 (NDSU) and No. 2 (SDSU) teams successful the FCS. The victor volition prehend an undisputed apical ranking portion moving into the wrong lane for some the Missouri Valley Conference title and home-field vantage passim the FCS playoffs.

The Bison are seeking their mind-bending 10th FCS title since 2011. The Jacks are inactive hunting their first, having mislaid the rubric crippled by 2 points conscionable 2 seasons ago. This volition beryllium their 10th consecutive gathering arsenic top-10 teams. Two of those came successful the playoffs, the astir caller an NDSU triumph successful the nationalist semifinals. North Dakota State has mislaid lone 2 regular-season FCS games implicit the past 2 seasons, and some were Dakota Marker losses to the Jackrabbits. Last December it appeared the 2 teams mightiness beryllium connected way for the eventual postseason rematch successful the nationalist rubric crippled until SDSU mislaid to Montana State successful the semis.

There are 18 North Dakotans connected the Bison's roster and 3 South Dakotans. On the Jackrabbits' roster determination are 29 South Dakotans and precisely zero players from "the authorities to the north." NDSU linebackers manager Grant Olson won 3 nationalist titles arsenic an All-American Bison linebacker. SDSU quarterbacks manager Zach Lujan threw 29 TD passes arsenic a Jack, and passing crippled coordinator Josh Davis inactive holds the schoolhouse grounds with 16 catches successful a azygous game. NDSU adjunct manager Tyler Roehl was an All-American moving backmost who ran for 263 yards against Minnesota successful a Big Ten "money game." SDSU adjunct Jimmy Rogers registered 312 tackles and 3 forced fumbles arsenic a Jackrabbits linebacker. One of those was via a head-in collision with Roehl, a turnover that each but clinched South Dakota State's taking of the Dakota Marker successful 2007. Now they lucifer wits arsenic violative coordinator versus antiaircraft coordinator.

"There's a level of vexation due to the fact that you can't spell backmost successful clip and redo what you did arsenic a player," says Roehl, visibly moving hard not to furrow his brow arsenic helium talks much astir the 2 Marker games helium mislaid arsenic a subordinate than the 1 his squad won. "But that's wherefore I americium back. You tin proceed to enactment to person an interaction connected the crippled from a manager and proceed to enactment our players successful presumption to beryllium successful. I respect them. I conscionable truly privation to bushed them."

"It consumes me, to beryllium honest," Rogers confesses, sitting astatine a table covered successful old-school playbook pages. "Not hoisting the Marker. Don't inquire what that feels similar due to the fact that I've ne'er done that. Not arsenic a subordinate oregon a coach. I fto the different guys bash that. I don't privation to beryllium moving to that and miss my favourite part."

And, what's that, Coach?

"Watching them locomotion disconnected the field. Watching them person to permission that tract knowing they person lost."

Oh, damn. So, that's however it is.

"We each cognize each different truthful well, possibly a small excessively well," fourth-year NDSU caput manager Matt Entz says with a laugh. "We enlistee the aforesaid kids. So galore of the guys I tried to motion are down there, and truthful galore they tried to motion are up here. Years ago, I astir went to enactment for Coach Stig astatine SDSU. Imagine however antithetic our worlds would beryllium then, right? That's however adjacent this each is."

"I deliberation the measurement of a existent rivalry astir apt comes with the question however overmuch bash radical speech astir the game," says John Stiegelmeier, aka "Coach Stig."

Stiegelmeier is successful his 26th play arsenic caput manager and his 36th consecutive twelvemonth connected the staff. The Selby, South Dakota, autochthonal is besides a South Dakota State alum. "Here successful Brookings, they speech astir this crippled 365 days retired of the year. It wasn't ever that way. But now, that is astir decidedly the case."

To beryllium clear, this crippled has roots that scope backmost astir 120 years, to the archetypal gathering of Dakota Agricultural College and North Dakota Agricultural College successful 1903. They person played 112 times successful all, and since 1919 the lone years missing are the 3 years mislaid to World War II. But during the archetypal period of their series, the matchup was mostly venom-less, lukewarm astatine best, arsenic each school's biggest rival was the schoolhouse featuring its sanction minus the "State": the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks and the University of South Dakota Coyotes.

As the 21st period rolled around, some NDSU and SDSU started looking astatine moves from NCAA Division II to what was past known arsenic I-AA, present called FCS.

"What we realized precise rapidly was that if we were going to marque that jump, we needed a spouse to bash it," Stiegelmeier says. "We some agreed that we would bash it together. So, we met astatine the borderline and shook connected it."

It is simply a infinitesimal that is truthful Dakotas it sounds wholly made up, an representation taken consecutive retired of a "Yellowstone" script. A brace of assemblage shot coaches, a brace of diversion directors and a mates of assemblage administrators, lasting on an imaginary enactment connected the Great Plains, leaning into the upwind arsenic they leaned successful to shingle hands.

"We stood close by 1 of the Dakota Markers erstwhile we had that meeting," Stiegelmeier recalls. "So, erstwhile we decided this crippled needed a sanction and a trophy, the Dakota Marker, that was the lone mode to go."

The Dakota Territory was incorporated successful 1861, the northernmost conception of onshore acquired by the United States successful the Louisiana Purchase. As the 20th period approached, the territory was earmarked for statehood but was considered excessively ample arsenic it was, truthful it was divided successful half, northbound and south. There were, of course, vicious authorities and infighting and absorption from some sides, but ultimately, connected Nov. 2, 1889, President Benjamin Harrison signed the papers that made North and South Dakota abstracted states. He had been warned that the 2 states were already talking 19th period smack implicit which 1 of them would go a authorities first, truthful helium requested that the documents beryllium shuffled and their titles covered truthful that nary 1 could impeach him of playing favorites.

The enactment chosen to divided the states ran on the seventh modular parallel, recovered astatine 45°56'07" northbound latitude. But idiosyncratic needed to amusement everyone wherever the borderline really was. On Sept. 19, 1891, Charles Bates of Yankton, South Dakota, began that process, equipped with surveyor's tools and guided mostly by the North Star supra the prairie. A squad of 9 men located the tristate country wherever Minnesota bumps up against some Dakotas. They dug a posthole and filled it with a 7-foot-long, 800-pound quartzite marker, carried implicit the plains and buried halfway. The portion of the marker supra crushed was marked connected its 10-inch-wide sides with "ND" to the north, "SD" to the southbound and mileage from the eastbound starting constituent adjacent to an "M." This archetypal marker included an added "IN.MT" for "initial monument."

From there, Bates and his unit marched 360.57 miles, from Minnesota to Montana. It took a year. They battled pits of snakes, clouds of mosquitoes and a two-day snowstorm that covered their enactment nether a 30-foot snowdrift. They spiked a full 720 markers into the earth, what Bates called "silent sentinels connected the prairie" that were delivered by steamboat and bid to beryllium virtually picked up by his team.

Over the adjacent century, the Dakota Markers faded retired of the memories of astir Dakotans. Some sank into the crushed nether their ain weight. Others were vandalized oregon dug up by aggravated farmers and Native Americans. Many were mistaken arsenic obstruction posts oregon cemetery headstones. Eventually, unpaid groups were formed to effort to prevention the markers that remained, but hundreds are apt gone forever.

A thrust earlier this week to find the archetypal monument was met with funny questions from twilight harvester operators and 1 pistillate who came retired onto the beforehand structure of her farmhouse to shout: "Keep going! The marker is down this path! I can't judge you made it each the mode retired present successful that car!"

"People who had lived present their full lives had nary thought what a Dakota Marker was, and this is coming from a feline who was calved and raised here," Stiegelmeier said. "Now they do. Thanks to a shot game."

Not conscionable a shot game. Maybe the grandest, grittiest shot crippled played this play oregon immoderate other, nary substance what NCAA designation it mightiness beryllium played under. Neighbors. Frenemies. Divided by a enactment they indispensable transverse each autumn successful bid to bring location a marker designed to amusement america wherever that enactment is. But connected by a Dakota DNA that is arsenic unsocial arsenic that trophy they combat for.

And we bash mean fight.

"When this crippled started nether the caller thought of the Dakota Marker, we were each successful this together, right? Kumbaya, let's determination up unneurotic and this volition beryllium fun. That lasted little than 1 game." Jimmy Rogers speaks of the 2004 contest, successful which the Jacks threw a rocket of a 22-yard TD walk with 39 seconds to go, winning the archetypal Marker 24-21. "From past until now, they cognize we mean concern and we cognize they mean business. To bash what we privation to do, triumph a nationalist championship, we person to bushed them. Honestly, to me, we person to bushed them anyway. I don't attraction if we're 0-6 going into kickoff."

"I've been a portion of 18 of these and my grounds is 11-7," Roehl says. "I deliberation you cognize present that I callback the losses much than the wins. I callback the information that they person won the Marker 2 straight."

A vein starts to emergence from Roehl's cervix arsenic helium talks. The aforesaid happens to Rogers. They some commencement recalling aged games. The 2-point conversion for SDSU astatine the buzzer successful '08. Easton Stick successful '18. Wentz. College GameDay astatine some schools. Those 4 playoff games.

Roehl and Rogers some beryllium up straight. Both get tears successful their eyes. Both of their faces crook a airy shadiness of red. The hue is unmistakable. It's the colour of quartzite.