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(STATS) -- During his first spring workouts after arriving at James Madison, then-new coach Mike Houston expressed his desire to establish a culture similar to that of the five-time defending national champions.The Dukes would make two goals heading into the season, realizing immediately that theyd have to go through North Dakota State to accomplish the one having to do with winning a national championship.Now the moment theyve been preparing for will finally arrive Friday night when Houston and the fourth-seeded Dukes hope to make their vision a reality by dethroning the top-seeded Bison in the FCS national semifinals at the Fargodome.In the middle of spring practice when we were working so hard to try to establish our culture, I made the statement -- and its a fact -- they are the five-time defending national champions, and if youre going to have any chance of beating them, youre going to have to be physical and youre going to have to be able to combat their physicality, Houston recalled. And I told our players that was the reason why it is so important for us to develop that kind of mindset. So in essence weve built this team to try to win this game.The CAA champs (12-1) certainly showed that toughness last Friday during what the coach said was probably our most dominating performance of the entire season. They held STATS FCS Walter Payton Award candidate Jeremiah Briscoe to just 13 of 44 passing for a season-low 143 yards and Raven Greene and Curtis Oliver pulled down interceptions in a 65-7 rout of a previously undefeated Sam Houston State team that came in averaging a nation-best 53.1 points.James Madison hopes to similarly slow North Dakota State (12-1), which has come alive offensively with 36.3 points and 506.7 total yards per game over its last three. Running backs King Frazier and Lance Dunn and quarterback Easton Stick combined for 275 rushing yards and three touchdowns in the Bisons 36-10 home win over fellow Missouri Valley Football Conference co-champ South Dakota State on Saturday. After leading that effort for NDSU, left guard Zack Johnson and right tackle Landon Lechler were named to the Associated Press FCS All-America first team.It certainly wont be easy for the Dukes at the noisy Fargodome, where the Bison are 55-5 since 2010 and have never lost in the playoffs with an 18-0 mark this decade. Houston, however, insists his squad is well-prepared for this type of environment.We probably had the most challenging road schedule in the conference this year with going to Maine, to New Hampshire, to Villanova and to Richmond, with Maine and Richmond both coming off of a bye, he explained. So weve went into places that traditionally are very difficult to play at and win at in the CAA. Certainly that coupled with the strength of the CAA does give us good preparation and good confidence going into what will be a very tough road game. I think our players understand the kind of mentality and mindset theyve got to have on this trip.After limiting high-scoring SDSU to a season low-tying total in avenging their only defeat, the Bison are bracing for another difficult test against a James Madison team that now leads the nation with 49.6 points per game and ranks third with an average of 532 total yards. Quarterback Bryan Schor completed 13 of 17 passes for 251 yards with one touchdown and one interception against Sam Houston, while running backs Trai Sharp and Khalid Abdullah teamed for 285 yards and five scores on 45 carries.NDSU, however, has been stout defensively, ranking third in the country with 15.8 points allowed per game and eighth in rushing defense (99.2) after holding the Jackrabbits to just 37 yards on the ground.(Schor) throws the ball really well, he keeps plays alive, Bison coach Chris Klieman said. Thats where I think hes been so impressive, where somebodys coming free or they look like theres a sack and hes been able to keep himself alive and keep plays alive and keep his eyes downfield. He can scramble, but he does a great job of finding receivers late downfield.If those guys have their play count up like a lot of the high-tempo teams, well be in trouble because they have so many explosive weapons.This will be the second meeting between the schools after the Bison won 26-14 in Fargo in the second round of the 2011 playoffs -- when NDSU began its title run. This time, the winner will face either unseeded Youngstown State (11-3) or No. 2 Eastern Washington (12-1) in the national championship in Frisco, Texas on Jan. 6.Coming into this season we made two goals, they were to be CAA champion and the next one was to be national champion, and we knew we would have to go through North Dakota State eventually to get that national championship, James Madison senior cornerback Taylor Reynolds said. I think everything played out how it was supposed to. Everything coach Houston preached to us came true.The Dukes hope it does one more time. Cheap Twins Jerseys Authentic . -- Jonathan Drouin gave Halifax the boost it needed to edge host Sherbrooke Phoenix 3-2 in a shootout in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. Byron Buxton Jersey . Kuznetsov, who was selected by the Capitals in the first round of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, has been playing for his hometown team Chelyabinsk Traktor of the KHL. http://www.cheaptwinsjerseys.com/?tag=cheap-justin-morneau-jersey . They reached the 100-point plateau for the fourth time in five games, bested the visiting Trail Blazers by 34 in the paint and scored 19 of the final 25 points in regulation. Wholesale Twins Jerseys . "I dont know that were close," said general manager Alex Anthopoulos. "I just think, right now, the acquisition cost just doesnt work for us right now. I dont know if I can quantify how far off or things like that that they might be but I would say we continue to have dialogue. Cheap Twins Jerseys . The quest begins with what is supposed to be an easy one, although Germany has traditionally been a stubborn opponent to Canadian teams at international tournaments.NEWTON, Iowa -- Brad Keselowski took control with 35 laps left to win the NASCAR Nationwide race at Iowa Speedway on Saturday night. The Sprint Cup driver has won in his last three Nationwide starts, also topping the field at Richmond in April and Kentucky in June. Points leader Austin Dillon led a race-high 116 laps, but gave up a huge lead following a late caution. Keselowski, the only Sprint Cup driver in the field, took control a few laps later for his second Nationwide win at Iowa. Sam Hornish Jr. was second, followed by Brian Vickers, Dillon and Kyle Larson. Keselowski, like every other driver in the field, spent much of the race looking at the back of Dillons No. 3 car. Dillon led all but 43 laps in the first Iowa race back in June, but he finished second to Trevor Bayne. Dillon again had a dominant car Saturday, taking control a third of the way through the race. This time, a late caution flag changed everything. Dillon led by as many as 7 seconds -- or over a quarter of the 0.875-mile track -- before a blown tire by Travis Pastrana drew out the flag and allowed the field to pit with 50 laps left. Dillon took four tires and fell back to fifth as Bayne took the lead on the restart. Buut Keselowski, who won the inaugural Nationwide race on Iowas oval in 2009, surged to the front and held off a charging Hornish for his third win of the season.dddddddddddd Drew Herring, in the No. 54 car for Joe Gibbs Racing normally driven by Kyle Busch, was the surprise winner of his first career pole. Busch has won eight Nationwide races in 15 starts in 2013. But like every Sprint Cup regular except for Keselowski, he stayed in Pocono to prepare for Sundays race. Herring, who was joined on the front row by Regan Smith, gave the lead away after just 27 laps. He also spun out on the 55th lap -- drawing a caution to end the longest green-flag start of the season. The flag did Keselowski no favours, as he was flagged for a tire violation during a pit stop and sent to the back for the restart. The No. 22 car also suffered through an overheating issue halfway through the race. But Keselowski fought through all of that, posting his first career victory in a race where he was called for a pit row violation. Ryan Gifford was ninth in his first career Nationwide start. Bayne, who gave the No. 6 Roush-Fenway Racing car its fourth victory in five tries at Iowa in June, finished 10th. ' ' '