The Southern Oregon football team wraps up the 2009 season Saturday at North Dakota in Grand Forks, N.D.

Kickoff between the Raiders (2-6) and the NCAA Division I Fighting Sioux (4-4) is set for 4 p.m. (CST).

Southern Oregon had a week off last week after dropping a 21-0 decision to NCAA Division III Mary Hardin-Baylor on Oct. 24.

“We want to close out the season on as positive of a note as we possibly can,” SOU head coach Steve Helminiak said. “We need to go out and play hard for our seniors. They are a group that has kept this team together through a tough season and have been true leaders.”

Sophomore running back Brandon Baldwin (Palo Cedro, Calif./Foothill) went over 1,000 yards in the setback to Mary Hardin-Baylor and now sits at 1,049 for the season.

Defensively, senior Will Watson (Myrtle Creek, Ore./South Umpqua) has a team-best 10 tackles-for-loss and 3.5 sacks and senior Thomas Sandoval (Santa Rosa, Calif./Piner) had a team-high 50 tackles.

North Dakota comes into this week's game following a 31-17 upset victory over 16th ranked Cal Poly. The Fighting Sioux had 427 yards of total offense and 238 yards rushing in the victory. Junior quarterback Jake Landry had 181 yards passing and 92 yards on the ground.

“On both sides of the ball, they give you a lot of different looks and they are very big and physical,” Helminiak said. “They won't give you a lot of base looks.”

North Dakota is in their second year of their transition from NCAA Division II to NCAA Division I FBS (formally I-AA). As a D-II program, the Fighting Sioux won the 2001 National Championship and won 24 North Central Conference titles.