Some call the Dakota Marker series the best college football rivalry in the nation — at least this past decade — because of how often both teams are national championship contenders and, like this week, No. 1 and No. 2.   Some don't. It's a layered topic and argument when you put SDSU-NDSU against rivalries like Montana-Montana State, Michigan-Ohio State, Alabama-Auburn, the old Nebraska-Oklahoma, etc.   But it is certainly a unique rivalry, given that it goes back 122 years, but only in the last 22 have the Jackrabbits and Bison become "arch rivals." That's because they decided to take the Div. II to Div. I leap together while their in-state rivals stayed put.   Nobody remembers the actual creation of the Dakota Marker trophy nor has more intimately lived the budding of the "we needed each other" rivalry more than SDSU's legendary former head coach John Stiegelmeier.   In his (warm and candid, as always) 70-minute conversation with Happy Hour host John Gaskins, "Stig" — at SDSU since 1979 and at the helm from 1997-2022 — doesn't just take the listener back to the plot of land on the border for the ceremony that established the trophy. He walks through the early years of both programs' navigation through the FCS wilderness, like the bizarre scheduling and financial realities of the higher level of competition.   How did NDSU get a leg up by 2011-15, when the Bison won five consecutive national titles and beat the Jacks eight consecutive times? How did SDSU catch up to NDSU's talent level and finally beat the Bison in 2016 and '17, then start a five-game winning streak over the Bison in 2021?    You may think you know all the stories. Trust us, you don't. Stig dishes plenty of details and opinions, some which even got him in trouble with his own athletic director as SDSU made the climb to No. 1.   The now-retired coach still lives in Brookings and keeps close tabs on the Jacks. So, what are his latest observations of current head coach and former Stig assistant Dan Jackson and his gifted quarterback Chase Mason?   How would Stig, a former defensive coordinator, prepare for the mystery of Mason or backup Luke Marble being the starting quarterback on Saturday? It's been quite the hot topic from Sioux Falls to Fargo all week.   Before the Stig session, Gaskins and Sioux Falls Live sports reporter Trent Singer conduct their usual beer summit better known as the "Thirsty Thursday Football Forecast." They hack away at the Dakota Marker matchups (and the Mason-Marble mystery) and make their predictions. Plus, they forecast: #18 Illinois State at #21 South Dakota Minnesota at Iowa Northwestern at Nebraska Augustana at Southwest Minnesota State USF at Minot State HSFB: #3 Jefferson at #1 Brandon Valley HSFB: #5 Harrisburg at #2 Lincoln      

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