FARGO — North Dakota State’s FBS debut will be against an old friend from its days in the FCS. The Bison will host Jacksonville State (Alabama) at the Fargodome on Aug. 29 in their first game at a higher level.
NDSU released its 2026 schedule Monday, March 9, revealing six home games and six away games, a mix of eight league contests in its new home in the Mountain West Conference and four non-conference games.
The Mountain West accepted NDSU as a football-only member last month and the reality of FBS football in its new league is here. NDSU will play 11 of 12 opponents from the FBS in addition to one from FCS.
NDSU will host Fordham, an FCS program located in New York City, in its second home game, with the Bison paying the Rams a $475,000 guarantee.
Home games include non-conference against Jacksonville State (Aug. 29), Fordham (Sept. 5) and Mountain West games against Wyoming (Oct. 3), Nevada (Oct. 17), Texas-El Paso (Oct. 31) and Northern Illinois (Nov. 21).
Travel will also be a level above.
Away games will be Air Force (Sept. 12), Nevada-Las Vegas (Oct. 10), New Mexico (Oct. 24) and Hawaii (Nov. 14) in the Mountain West and Sacramento State (Sept. 19) and San Jose State (Nov. 28) for non-conference.
The San Jose State game will count as a non-conference affair despite the Spartans being a member of the 10-team Mountain West. SJSU dropped Jacksonville State off its non-conference schedule, allowing NDSU to schedule the Gamecocks, and was willing to fill its slate by hosting the Bison.
San Jose State and Sacramento State are expected to be home-and-home contracts with NDSU, meaning those teams will play in Fargo sometime in the future.
Game times will be released at later dates.
NDSU and Jacksonville State have played three times previously, the most notable and recent being when the teams met in the FCS champioship game following the 2015 season. The 37-10 win in Frisco, Texas, was NDSU’s fifth straight national championship and was noted for the return from injury and final college career game for quarterback Carson Wentz.
The Gamecocks moved to FBS in 2023 and play in Conference USA.
With NDSU playing at Hawaii, that allows the Bison to play in Week Zero, and will account for two bye weeks during the season.
Sac State, like NDSU is making an immediate FBS jump, was accepted into the Mid-American Conference and the fact both programs needed a non-conference game made it for a natural home-and-home.
All will be first-time opponents with the exception of Sac State and Jacksonville State.
Jacksonville State and NDSU met twice in Division II. JSU won in the 1977 Grantland Rice Bowl and the 1989 quarterfinals.
NDSU’s only previous game against Sac State came when both were in Division II, a 42-20 victory in the 1988 Division II semifinals at Dacotah Field.
The Gamecocks have been successful at their new level going 9-5 the last two seasons, including a victory over Troy in the Veterans Bowl in Montgomery, Alabama, last season and winning the C-USA championship in 2024.
They went 9-4 in their inaugural FBS season in 2023 defeating Louisiana in the RL Carriers New Orleans Bowl at the Superdome.
The Gamecocks figure to be a much tougher opponent than the last time the Bison played a “first game” at a higher level, which was a 52-0 deflation in 2004 of Valparaiso. That was NDSU’s first year playing a Division I FCS schedule, which was known as Division I-AA then.
The Mountain West released its full schedule a little later than usual, with the late addition of NDSU in February beginning this fall a major reason. Because the Bison are playing at Hawaii, they were allowed to begin their season on “Week Zero” in August, a stipulation for Mountain West schools to compensate for the longer travel, if the schedule works out.
2026 NDSU football schedule
Aug. 29 — Jacksonville StateSept. 5 — FordhamSept. 12 — at Air ForceSept. 19 — at Sacramento StateOct. 3 — Wyoming (homecoming)Oct. 10 — at UNLVOct. 17 — NevadaOct. 24 — at New MexicoOct. 31 — UTEPNov. 14 — at HawaiiNov. 21 — Northern IllinoisNov. 28 — at San Jose State
Jeff Kolpack, the son of a reporter and an English teacher, and the brother of a reporter, worked at the Jamestown Sun, Bismarck Tribune and since 1990 The Forum, where he’s covered North Dakota State athletics since 1995. He has covered all 10 of NDSU’s Division I FCS national football titles and has written four books: “Horns Up,” “North Dakota Tough,” “Covid Kids” and “They Caught Them Sleeping: How Dot Reinvented the Pretzel.” He is also the radio host of “The Golf Show with Jeff Kolpack” April through August.