1. Sophomore linebacker Dubem Nwadiogbu is out with a sprained knee. He did not make the trip. Sophomore Travis Williams will get the start. Sophomore Teven Williams, who didn't play until the last minute of the third quarter last week, is also expected to start. Both Williamses were held out of the first half last week due to missing a team meeting. Luis Quinones is battling a bad knee but he's expected to start.

2. Not that it matters when you're playing in a dome, but it was snowing in Fargo last night. It feels like North Dakota is about a month ahead of Ohio's weather. I even spotted some bare trees.

3. Nobody asked me, but ... YSU needs to play more football games in states that end in words like "Carolina" and fewer in states that end in "Dakota."

4. In case you missed it, ESPN's College Gameday mentioned today's North Dakota State-YSU game, with Lee Corso picking the Bison and Kirk Herbstreit and Desmond Howard both picking the Penguins. Howard said he was picking them because he's an Ohio guy. (He graduated from St. Joe's in Cleveland along with Elvis Grbac.) Oh, NOW you're an Ohio guy, Desmond? If you want to watch the clip, you can find it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4ISYuzVgAo&feature=player_embedded">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4ISYuzVgAo&feature=player_embedded

5. As for me, I don't think it would be much of an upset for YSU to win, but I think it's more likely that the Bison win this one. They've got home field advantage and a better defense.

6. YSU likes to pick on one of the assistant coaches during road trips each year, asking Southwest's flight attendants to announce that it's his birthday, then have everyone sing to him. In previous years, it was linebackers coach Frank Buffano (who has a baby face, so they'd often wish him a happy Sweet Sixteen). Now it's defensive coordinator Joe Tresey. On the flight over, the flight attendant announced that "they found his Spider-Man pajamas and they'll Fed-Ex them to his hotel." Then everyone sang Happy Birthday, bringing a roll of toilet paper down the aisle that resembled a cake.

Tresey's birthday is in August, by the way.

7. I'm told that at last year's playoff game against Georgia Southern, the Fargodome reached 115 decibels, which is the equivalent of sandblasting or a loud rock concert. At 125 decibels, you feel pain. At 140 decibels, you start doing some permanent damage.

8. The largest crowd in Fargodome history is 19,053 against South Dakota State in 2006. That's 353 above capacity. They could threaten that mark today, depending on how many they allow in.