BROOKINGS – The must-win games continue for South Dakota State football. This week, in the regular season finale, the Jackrabbits will travel down to Vermillion to take on in-state rival South Dakota.

The Coyotes are 4-7 overall and 3-4 in the conference and have lost four of their last five games.

Last week the Jackrabbits had a must-win game against Northern Iowa to keep their hopes alive to get a top-eight seed in the FCS Playoffs. With their backs against the wall, the South Dakota State defense had their best performance of the season. They held the Panthers to just seven points and 239 total yards of offense in their 38-7 win.

Even after the performance against the Panthers, co-defensive coordinator Brian Bergstrom was not completely pleased with the Jacks defense.

“I think we played close to our potential,” Bergstrom said. “It’s always a work in progress. The biggest thing that we were impressed with were the confidence and the fight. We challenged them to have the most fun that they’ve ever had and it snowballed in a good way. … But we also saw that we have work to. You can’t have a drive where you let them drive down the field during the middle of the game.”

SDSU also forced four turnovers and had none themselves. UNI quarterback Will McEvain had only thrown three interceptions all season heading into the game and SDSU picked him off three times.

McElvain is the second-leading passer in the Missouri Valley. This week, the Jacks will go up against the conference’s leading passer in South Dakota’s Austin Simmons. Simmons averages 245.5 yards per game with 25 touchdowns. 

Bergstrom said Simmons is a lot like McElvain in that they are both elusive. Simmons averages 49.2 yards on the ground per game.

“We’re not going to dramatically change what we do. Everything runs through [Simmons]. We have to respect his ability to throw and run. The UNI kid is more shifty, and Simmons is more bigger and physical. We felt it was great preparation for Simmons, playing UNI. They’re both really good players and keep us defensive coaches up at night,” Bergstrom said. 

The Jackrabbits will be without their leading rusher, Pierre Strong Jr., who hurt his knee against UNI. They also may be without backup running back C.J. Wilson who has missed the last two games with with a foot injury. SDSU head coach John Stiegelmeier said both running backs are questionable heading into for the game against the Coyotes.

This means the bulk of the carries will be given to senior Mikey Daniel, who is not new to this situation. Last year, when Isaac Wallace went down, Daniel became the main guy before Strong showed off his skills. Daniel has 1,560 yards on 338 carries with 28 touchdowns in his career.

“I’m just always ready,” Daniel said. “If I’m not taking the ball, then I need to be making an impact somewhere else which is where what I pride myself on.”

Daniel replaced Strong last week and finished with 82 yards on 21 carries and one touchdown. The Brookings native said the South Dakota Showdown is big because it’s a rivalry, but it is even bigger this year because of the playoff implications for the Jackrabbits.

“I know there’s a lot riding on this game. They’re not going to the playoffs, but this is big for us because if we don’t win this we’re not going to get a top eight seed. There’s more riding on this game than there has been in years previous. … They’re always ready to play us. They bring it no matter what their record is,” Daniel said.  

SDSU was playing artificial sound at practice on Wednesday at the Sanford Jackrabbit Athletic Complex. The DakotaDome only holds 5,000 people right now because USD is renovating it. Stiegelmeier said that didn’t matter because 5,000 people are a lot louder indoors.

The Jacks have won the last 12 games against the Coyotes. USD’s last win was on Nov. 4^th, 2000, when the Coyotes beat the Jacks 41-28. Three of the last four games have been decided by one score though.

“We’ve had their number. They’re a good program and a number of those games have been one score games and we came out on top. This we’ll be the same type of game. A tough game. A battle. Rivalry. This is their Super Bowl and it’s our Super Bowl to get [a seed in the playoffs],” Stiegelmeier said.

Kickoff between the Jacks and Coyotes is set for 2 p.m. Saturday. The game can be viewed locally on Midco Sports Network and nationally on ESPN+.