FARGO — The announcement came on Dec. 28 of last season, which in the ensuing several days looked like Black December to the South Dakota State football program. Head coach Jimmy Rogers accepted the head coaching position at Washington State and took with him most of the coaching staff and 16 players.

That doesn’t include a few true freshmen who verbally committed to the Jackrabbits. It was a roster so ravaged that it was unprecedented in the Division Football Championship Subdivision. Also unprecedented: how rapidly the Jackrabbits rebounded from the drama and head to the Dakota Marker game Saturday night against North Dakota State at 7-0 and ranked second in the FCS.

It’s another reason why NDSU and SDSU in the Missouri Valley Football Conference and Montana and Montana State in the Bi

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