FARGO — It’s home opener for North Dakota State, and as usual, there are a number of events throughout the week. Like a good relief pitcher, the week will culminate on Saturday afternoon with the Towson-Bison football game at the Fargodome, a non-conference FCS matchup expected to draw about 17,500 fans.

However, your self-proclaimed esteemed Five Things columnist made a wild throw on Monday night by missing mind reader Eric Dittelman from the Festival Concert Hall. How on earth can one human being read another human being’s mind?

This seems a bit like trying to find Bigfoot. The big guy is still on the loose. For you young people, Google Johnny Carson and Carnac the Magnificent and you’ll laugh for hours. For now, Five Things will do his best to be the great wise mystic.

The hermetically sealed envelope with your best Ed McMahon voice and in the head of Five Things: “Walter Payton Award”.

The question: “What level does Bison quarterback Cam Miller play at?”

The answer in Five Things’ mind? “A dumpster fire.”

The question: “What happens to the FCS?”

The answer in Five Things’ head: “Transfer portal.”

The question: “What devastated the Bison Secondary?”

Without the portal, NDSU could theoretically have Dom Jones (Colorado State) and, if he weren’t injured, Cole Wisniewski at safety and Marques Sigle (Kansas State) and Courtney Eubanks (Coastal Carolina) at cornerback.

But they’re no longer here, and Towson University comes to Fargo for a home opener at 1 p.m. Saturday. Here are five things to watch for when the Tigers play the Bison:

Miller, as mentioned, is playing like an NFL prospect after three games. He is second in the FCS in points scored with 62 points (five rushing touchdowns, five passing touchdowns and a two-point conversion pass), third in passing efficiency and fifth in completion percentage (53 of 73 for 73%).

He works so well that NDSU was reluctant to switch to the system with two quarterbacks, Miller and Cole Payton, like last year.

“The offense is really pretty productive right now,” said head coach Tim Polasek. “Right now, Cam is playing at an elite level and I’m not talking about the yards or the shot. He’s managing the offense top notch.”

Miller passed Steve Walker for third place in school career passing yards with 7,128 and completions with 554. He has a streak of 174 consecutive passes without an interception, the second-longest in school history. Last week he scored a passing and rushing touchdown in the same game for the 18th time in his career.

The NDSU FCS years were characterized by a consistent run defense, with the Bison statistically ranking in the top 10 in run defense each year. It was difficult for teams to reach 100 yards against an NDSU defense.

The Bison enter their game against Towson ranked 41st in the FCS in that category, giving up 133.7 yards per game, and are unlikely to win a Missouri Valley Football Conference title or a long shot at the playoffs.

East Tennessee State cost the Bison 270 yards last week. The thrilling comeback win may have made the homecoming trip happy, but that stat didn’t lie. If the Bison want to take a step forward this weekend, they’ll have to start there.

The Tigers’ kicking game has been a mixed bag so far, with the most notable being the two missed field goals in the final 1:13 of a 14-13 loss to fifth-ranked Villanova. It was almost a shocker that veteran kicker Keegan Vaughan, a preseason All-CAA pick, missed from 48 and 37 yards, the last throw on the game’s final play.

So far this season, Vaughan has missed as many field goals as last year (15 of 18).

“Extremely frustrating,” said Towson head coach Pete Shinnick, “but at the same time there were other plays that contributed to it. We had a touchdown that was taken back, but we were excited about the effort from our guys and that we continue to improve. We want to find ways to win these games.”

Villanova head coach Mark Ferrante said at this week’s CAA press conference that one of his players on the defensive line caught a couple of fingers on the last kick and that may have changed the trajectory.

A week earlier, the Tigers had thrown a block party in their 14-9 win over Morgan State, blocking an extra point and a field goal attempt.

“That was great,” Shinnick said after the game. “We knew it was going to be a tough game.”

For the second straight year, the Bison defense will face a tight end who appears to have NFL potential. Last week, it was East Tennessee State’s Cameron Lewis, a 6-foot-4, 250-pound freshman from Division II out of Winston-Salem State (NC).

What baffles Five Things is not only that he’s a D-II transfer – Lewis has barely played at East Tennessee the past two years – but that he looked confident on a 19-yard touchdown reception that put the Bucs ahead 35-23. Polasek took one look at him during pregame warmups and figured he would play a role.

Towson will bring 6-foot-10, 235-pound Carter Runyon to the Fargodome. Like Lewis, Runyon began his career at a lower level, in Runyon’s case at West Virginia’s Division III Shenandoah University, where – and this baffles Five Things – his greatest honor was being selected to the All-Conference second team.

He is Towson’s leading pass receiver with 13 catches. He is the first tight end in Towson history to make the All-American team.

“I have a lot of respect for this guy, he’s a good football player,” Polasek said.

Perhaps the days of preseason predictions in the FCS being somewhat reliable are over. Yes, the top of the subdivision is still filled with Missouri Valley and Big Sky schools. But with instant access to the portal, teams can improve much faster.

Will it be East Tennessee this year? Towson was 5-6 last season but played tough against FBS Cincinnati and should have beaten No. 5 Villanova.

East Tennessee, for example, had a 3-8 record in 2023, but Polasek knew from a pregame conversation with new ETSU head coach Tre Lamb that some things had already changed in the program.

“This guy thinks right,” Polasek said. “A win is a win in September because there are some unknowns. East Tennessee State is a well-coached team and I wouldn’t put a limit on how many games they will win this year.”

Towson endured mediocre times in the years following its 2013 national title win over NDSU, but the Tigers also hired a coach who has a Division II national title on his resume.