News emerged Friday that St. Thomas and St. John's will play their 2017 regular-season football game at Target Field, and more details emerged Monday during a news conference at the Twins ballpark. Here are five questions and answers about the game, which is slated for Sept. 23, 2017:

Football at Target Field? How and why did this come together, anyway?

Twins President Dave St. Peter said he and St. Thomas football coach Glenn Caruso began a casual conversation about the possibility of this game being played at Target Field during a concert several years ago there. St. Peter, who is the son of a St. John's alum and the parent of a St. Thomas student, was intrigued by the idea of both the rivalry and the ability to bring a non-baseball event to the stadium.

But three pieces of timing pushed the wheels in motion: The Twins have a 10-day road trip at the end of September next year; the trip coincides with the already-scheduled St. Thomas/ St. John's game; and it also coincides with a Saturday in which the Gophers have a bye.

Aren't they worried about tearing up the field for the Twins?

Target Field's primary tenant, the Twins, have one final regular-season series that starts Sept. 29 against Detroit — six days after a bunch of football players are going to run up and down their field. But St. Peter expressed confidence in groundskeeper Larry DiVito's ability to get the field in shape for football and then baseball once again.

What will a football field look like inside Target Field?

The field will run from the area by the first base (Twins) dugout toward the left field corner. Unlike a 2010 game at Wrigley Field in which offensive plays were run in only one direction on the field, there will be no such shenanigans at Target Field.

"We have to figure out a way to mount the goalposts, but I think we have a model for that," St. Peter said. "The mound will come out, and we have to add some padding."

How the field will be configured. The St. Thomas bench is up the third-base line, with student seating up the foul line and in left field; the St. John’s bench is from center to right field, with student seating in foul territory down the first-base line.

How many fans are they expecting?

St. Peter said he expects there to be at least 20,000 tickets sold, which would break the Division III attendance record of 17,535. Both coaches said setting the record would be a nice touch. The rivalry had the largest attendance in D-III history until two weekends ago, when a game between Wisconsin-Whitewater and Wisconsin-Oshkosh broke it.

"I think it's important for both of our schools," Johnnies coach Gary Fasching said. "I think it shows how many people follow those schools."

Said Caruso: "It's a great chance to [break the record], and it's my level of expectation that it gets done. … It's not a sole reason to do it, but that would be an expectation."

Should we get ready for even more football at Target Field after this game?

St. Peter reiterated that the Twins have had discussions about other football games at Target Field with "regional schools," including North Dakota State. He said nothing would happen on that front in 2017 or 2018.

"This is admittedly a test for us. We wanted to test college football. We want to see if maybe we can create a model here that will play into November and maybe even December in terms of looking at other college football matchups we could consider," St. Peter said.