GET UP EVERYONE! THERE'S BISON FOOTBALL TODAY!

Fall is just a little bit closer now that football has arrived to Fargo. Everyone has anticipated for this home opener since the day we won our 5th straight FCS Championship. Seniors have graduated and players have gone to the NFL since then, so this game had us with questions like, "Will we still be as great?", "How will this game play out?", "Can Easton Stick carry our team to the finish line again?".

Standing in line for six hours, chanting "Let's Go Bison" and screaming for no apparent reason other than we love our football team and were excited to see them after a long summer off.

The Friday before, is always bison pride Friday, where all bison fans pick through our green and yellow closets to find that favorite bison shirt (sometimes multiple because you just can't pick one!) and to wear it proud. The West Dining center breakfast nook is closed for that annual home game dinner for our heroes, the football team.

It's decked out in green and yellow streamers, along with green and yellow napkins. If you have lived, or currently live in the high rises, you will see all of our tailgaters starting to line up to get the best parking spot for game day. From tents, to trailers, to even huge busses decked out in NDSU accessories, there is nothing you won't see with our committed fans.

I went out and asked some of my fellow classmates and peers what they thought about their football team and I would love to share.

"These boys have actually put North Dakota on the map. What they have done is legendary. NDSU might not be huge, but it is the biggest campus in North Dakota. With over 15,000 students coming from all around the world, Bison pride is what brings us all together and makes us one,"

Sierra Rose says, "Every professor I have had postpones their 8 AM lecture for a few minutes just so we can get our tickets to the game at the end of the week. Going to those games gives me a rush, and win or lose, I always leave proud of our team. I love hearing interviews from other teams and coaches."

She adds, "Apparently some of our opponents practice with recordings of people yelling and cheering to prepare for the game, and after they say nothing could have prepared them. I never had a big interest in football, but coming to NDSU has changed me. Bison football has become one of my favorite things."

Another girl replied "Bison Football for me honestly is about getting to see the boys play a good game and for me, as a band member, to get to play my heart out during pregame, half time and the breaks in between to help pump up the students and fans watching."

"Bison football makes me feel so excited and glad I chose NDSU. I love sleep, but every game reminds me of how worth it it is to wake up and stand in line for four or so hours to get great seats." Skylar says, "The amount of enthusiasm and involvement the students have in the games, whether red shirt freshman or seniors in their last semester, makes me feel so blessed to be part of a community that comes together and supports one another"

Here's my version. I am not a morning person. But when it's game day, you bet I am up at 8 am getting ready to be in line by 9 am, for a football game at 3pm. To get the anticipation of the time when the doors open up and for thousands of students to stampede to the student section to get the best seats. To roar so loud it hurts your ears, and makes you faint. To feel the rumble of the seats as all of us come together as one to distract the other team.

I am probably more nervous about every pass, every rush and every fumble than most of the guys on the team. I went to high school with one of the football players, and it makes me so proud to not only be from where I came from, but to be proud of being who I am today. NDSU fans are loyal, we love our team more than anyone else in the nation. I am a Bison. And we are, BISON NATION!