MANKATO, Minn. --- The Minnesota State football team will make its fourth straight appearance, and ninth overall, in the NCAA Tournament on Saturday as it hosts the Emporia State Hornets. The opening kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.

Our History: The 2015 season marks the school's 89th season playing football. The Mavericks are 430-379-28 (.530) in 837 games since their inception as a varsity sport in 1922.  Minnesota State is in its eighth season in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and owns a 72-10 (.878) record in league action. Over the course of its history, MSU has claimed 21 conference championships, including 16 NIC titles. Last wee, the Mavericks claimed at least a share of their third straight NSIC title and fourth in the last five seasons.

Grabbing the Reigns: The 2015 season marks the sixth season with head coach Todd Hoffner on the sidelines. During his six seasons at Minnesota State, Hoffner has compiled a 58-15 (.794) record, including three trips to the NCAA Tournament in 2008, 2009 and 2014.

Against the Hornets: Saturday's game between the Mavericks and the Hornets marks the first ever meeting between them.

Concerning the Mavericks: Last weekend the Mavericks improved to 10-1 on the season as they secured their third straight NSIC Championship with a 42-14 win against Wayne State at Blakeslee Stadium.

The Maverick defense held the Wildcats to just 265 yards of total offense last week, while the MSU offense put up 518 yards of total offense.

Junior Ricky Lloyd notched 261 passing yards and three touchdowns, with junior Brent Esser catching five passes for 76 yards and two touchdowns. Esser has 447 receiving yards and five touchdowns on the season, while sophomore Ty Dennis leads the team with 34 catches, 727 receiving yards and six touchdown catches.

Senior Chad Zastrow led the Maverick rushing attack against WSC with 98 rushing yards and currently leads the MSU rushing attack with 632 rushing yards. Junior Virgil Hammond added 86 rushing yards and two touchdowns against the Wildcats as well.

Junior Brendan Chrystal led the Maverick defense against WSC with seven tackles, while sophomore Corey Brent added six tackles and one interception. Senior Josh Gordon currently leads the Maverick defense with 21.5 tackles for loss and 14 sacks. Junior Marcus Gooden has 52 tackles, to go along with three interceptions as well.

Concerning the Hornets: The Emporia State Hornets enter the weekend the owners of a 9-2 record, including a 52-34 win last weekend against Nebraska-Kearny in their regular season finale. ESU owns a 3-2 record in road games, with their two road losses coming courtesy of Northwest Missouri State (44-10) and Fort Hays State (27-24).

Brent Wilson leads the ESU offense with 3,420 passing yards and 34 touchdowns, compared to nine interceptions. Wilson's two main targets this season have been Kavaski Ervin and Mitchell Foote. Erivn has tallied a team-leading 962 receiving yards, to go along with eight touchdowns, while Foote has tallied 721 receiving yards and 12 touchdown grabs.

Antonio Brown is leading the ESU rushing attack with 576 rushing yards and five touchdown carries.

Josh Monteagudo is leading the Emporia State defense with 83 tackles, with Kole Schankie following with 80 tackles, including 10.5 for a loss. Tre Dickerson has a team-leading four interceptions as well.

To view the complete release click HERE