Fly to the football, play harder than you have ever played before, play with emotion, believe you can beat them and protect your home turf.

Do all of the above, Winona State University football coach Tom Sawyer told his team more than once this week, and good things will happen against powerful Minnesota-Duluth.

And if the Warriors (7-3, 6-3 NSIC) can do all of the above today against the once-beaten Bulldogs (9-1, 8-1) - the sixth-ranked team in NCAA Division II - a slim chance at the playoffs might not be quite so slim.

"Here we are, the 11th game of the season, and we're still talking playoffs," Sawyer said. "We got a chance. Like I was telling the kids, we've got a chance. We got in the top 10 (in Super Regional 3). That is the first thing, we've got to be on the board.

"Right now we are in the top 40 (D-II teams) in the country fighting to be in the top 24. Let's win the game and give the NCAA committee something to think about."

The 24-team Division II playoff field will be announced Sunday afternoon.

Beating Minnesota-Duluth will be no easy task. The Bulldogs, the defending NCAA Division II national champions, lost to Central Washington, 13-10, in their second game of the season. Central Washington is 10-0 and ranked second by the AFCA.

Minnesota-Duluth's star running back, Isaac Odim, has rushed for 1,511 yards (7.6 yards per carry) and has scored 23 touchdowns. He is one of 24 candidates for the Harlon Hill Trophy for Division II player of the year.

"He is good. He does it all. We need to run people to him and get enough people to him to slow him down," Sawyer said. "You are not going to stop him; he is that good. He is a Division I back.

"I think he is the No. 1 back in the country (in Division II), no question about it. We give him that kind of respect."

Winona State's offense is no slouch, as quarterback Greg Preston has passed for 2,404 yards with 20 TDs and 10 interceptions. His favorite targets are senior Drew Alexander (29 catches, 429 yards, 5 TDs), redshirt sophomore running back Curtis Dewberry (29, 248, 1) and freshman Derrick Engel (24, 642, 5).

Redshirt freshman running back Rayon Simmons has rushed for 826 yards and 13 TDs.

"We need to match them," Sawyer said. "If they take a long drive and score, we need to come back and score. Our offense has got to put points on the board.

"We feel as good as we have all year. The kids played a significant game last week, beat a team on the road (Augustana), at a new stadium, a 7-2 team. They were nationally ranked, ranked in the region, all that stuff. And we beat them."