GAME OF THE WEEK

St. Thomas (5-2, 3-2 MIAC) at Augsburg (4-3, 3-3), 1:10 p.m. Saturday

St. Thomas, which has reached the Division III playoffs the past four seasons, is in a must-win situation. The Tommies, ranked No. 18 in the d3football.com poll, are coming off a 43-7 victory over Hamline. The Auggies, who have lost three of their past four games, are coming off a 47-20 loss to Concordia in Moorhead. St. Thomas has won the past five meetings between the teams, including 30-14 in St. Paul last year.

WEEK 9 STORY LINES

Division II Super Region 3: Despite being ranked No. 1 in two Division II national polls, MSU Mankato is ranked No. 2 in the first Division II Super Region 3 poll. Northwest Missouri State, which is ranked No. 2 in the national polls, is ranked ahead of the Mavericks in the regional poll. Minnesota Duluth is No. 3 and St. Cloud State is No. 4. The top six teams in the final regional poll earn a spot in the Division II playoffs.

Division III regional rankings: The first Division III regional rankings will be announced next week. The MIAC, with four teams ranked in the d3football.com Top 25, and the WIAC, with three teams in the Top 10, are expected to dominate the West Region rankings.

Piper milestone: Hamline sophomore Austin Duncan rushed for 190 yards in 37 carries in the Pipers' loss to St. Thomas to become the first MIAC player this season and the first Hamline player since 1996 to surpass 1,000 rushing yards. Duncan has 1,047 yards with three games remaining. The Pipers' school record is 1,290 set in 1996 by Eric Johnson.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Josh Gordon, DE, MSU Mankato: The 6-2 sophomore from Milwaukee leads the Mavericks with 5½ sacks and is fourth on the team with 37 tackles. Gordon had three sacks in the Mavericks' 44-10 victory over Winona State.

Matt Mehlhorn, DB, Bethel: The 6-2 sophomore from Lakeville returned an interception 100 yards for a TD, blocked a field goal attempt and had 10 tackles in the Royals' 41-17 victory over Gustavus.

Bethel DB Matt Mehlhorn.

BY THE NUMBERS

19 Career interceptions (a school record) for St. Cloud State DB Jack Moro. A senior from Brookfield, Wis., Moro had two interceptions in the Huskies' 64-7 victory over Northern State last Saturday.

29 Career TD receptions (a school record) for Minnesota-Morris WR Brendan Foss. A senior from Hancock, Minn., Foss has nine TDs (on 61 catches) this season.

500 Victories in program history for Concordia (Moorhead). After their 47-20 victory over Augsburg, the Cobbers became the fourth college program in state history (joining the Gophers, St. John's and St. Thomas) to reach the milestone.

JOEL RIPPEL