MARSHALL - The Southwest Minnesota State University football team enters today's matchup with an opportunity to do something they haven't done since the first two games of the season - win back-to-back contests.

In a season that began with a lot of optimism - winning three of the first four games - the latter part of the schedule has been something to forget.

But the Mustangs left Aberdeen, S.D. last Saturday with a 34-10 victory over Northern State and SMSU head coach Eric Eidsness said the team is merely looking to build off that momentum and enter the offseason with some confidence.

"It's their last chance of the year," he said. "We've got to go out and take advantage of our last opportunity this year. ... We want to put two in a row together and give us some good momentum going into the offseason."

The Mustangs will take to the field for the last time this season today at 1 p.m. at New Mattke Field at the Regional Event Center, opposite NSIC rival Minnesota State University-Moorhead.

"We played pretty well last week," Eidsness said. "I wouldn't say we were perfect, but I thought we played really well. We had good energy and the kids came out and executed pretty well."

Offensively, senior running back, and all-time leading rusher, Zach Wysong had a season-high 192 yards on the ground and junior quarterback Ryan Ratekin passed for 240 yards and two touchdowns to help the Mustangs pick up their third NSIC victory of the season.

"We need to take that and go into this game (against MSU-Moorhead) and start off playing good, playing confident," said Eidsness, who is in his sixth year as SMSU's head coach. "The big goal right now is to end our season with a win and send our seniors out the right way."

The Mustangs (4-6, 3-6 NSIC) will be losing 16 seniors after today's game and Eidsness said this year's class has a little different feeling because this was the first class that was entirely scouted by him and the Mustang coaching staff.

"It's tough to say goodbye to those guys," Eidsness said. "This was our first real recruiting class we had a whole recruiting season to recruit. These guys are pretty special because when we got started they played a big part."

SMSU combined for a season-high 259 yards on the ground, which should bode well for the Mustangs as they prepare to lineup against a Dragon defense that is giving up 221.7 yards per game.

"Offensively we played real well early," said Eidsness. "Defensively, we played a real good second half and then had a nice fourth quarter offensively."

MSU-Moorhead (2-8, 1-8 NSIC) is also allowing 38.7 points per contest, so the 19th ranked scoring offense in the nation will have the opportunity to go off on a struggling defensive unit.

The Dragons have also struggled on the offensive side of the ball this season. MSU-Moorhead is averaging just 12.2 points per game behind freshman quarterback Zach Fry, who has thrown for 1,777 yards and 10 touchdowns to go along with 21 interceptions - helping them become the second worst team in the nation in turnover margin (minus-2.3).

"We do need to pressure him," Eidsness said. "We ran quite a bit of pressure last week and that's going to be part of it, but we have to maintain some balance between pressure and zone and do some things to not be too predictable."

Fry hasn't had a reliable rushing attack to help balance the offense - rushing for an average of 59.2 yards as a team per game.

"It's going to be important we come out and play aggressive and try and set the tone for the day," said Eidsness. "I think that's one way that you can let your kids know that today's got to be an aggressive day."

The Mustangs may not have the opportunity to reach the wins total Eidsness or the SMSU football program had envisioned heading into the season, but they still have the opportunity to win 11 games in two seasons for the first time since the 1991 and 1992 seasons.

"It's not where we wanted to be right now, but it's progress and we're moving forward," Eidsness said. "There's a lot of thing to get accomplished and it's so important to finish things the right way."

NOTES: Seniors Levi Bullerman, Matt Carmody, Aaron Diggs, Michael Hagny, Lionel Lamarre, Tyler Mickelson, Bill Noethlich, Mike Scott, Shaye Thomas, Derek Townsend,Ryan Vette, Jordan Wagner, Nic Wagner, Tony Weiler, Blake Wilson, Zach Wysong will be walking out on to New Mattke Field for the last competitive game of their careers.

"To be able to play at home in front of a home crowd means a lot to them," said Eidsness. "We've got a good atmosphere at home. ... The community has done a nice job and the athletic department has done a nice job of creating a good game-day atmosphere, so I think being able to end it at home in front of that crowd is a good experience." ... In NSIC games only, SMSU ranks second in passing offense (294.2). ... Opponents have held a time of possession advantage in eight of 10 games. ... SMSU has blocked three punts, two field goals and one extra point this season. ... The Mustangs set a single-game record for most yards per completion (25.7) in its week two victory over Black Hills State University. ... SMSU had a school record 678 yards of offense versus Upper Iowa. ... SMSU has scored 30 or more points in seven of 10 games this season.