FARGO – NDSU senior receiver Raja Nelson returned to the lineup and made his presence felt – and how.

Nelson snapped quarterback Cam Millers pass into the corner of the end zone for the game-winning 20-yard touchdown catch Saturday night at the Fargodome in NDSU’s 13-9 win over South Dakota State in a Missouri Valley Football Conference showdown.

Nelson also caught an 18-yard touchdown pass from Miller with 6:03 left in the second quarter for the first score of the game, giving NDSU a 7-0 lead.

Nelson returned to the Bison lineup after missing last week’s win at Southern Illinois. He played in only three of NDSU’s eight games and battled what NDSU coaches called an internal injury.

He finished with four catches for 48 yards and two touchdowns.

Head coach of Bizon Tim Polasek has said he will be judicious in using Nelson because if Nelson plays in four games or fewer, he will continue to have one year of eligibility under NCAA redshirt rules. Nelson played as a true freshman in 2021 and did not use a redshirt year so he could return for another season next year.

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Chase Mason is the backup quarterback to reigning Walter Payton Award winner Mark Gronowski for SDSU, meaning Mason won’t see many snaps other than cleanup time. But the Jackrabbits have found a way to use the 6-foot-1, 230-pound junior effectively as a runner.

The Bison found out the hard way.

On third down-and-1 from the SDSU 34, Mason took a direct snap and went 66 yards and SDSU’s first touchdown from the right sideline. It came a few plays after NDSU took a 7-0 lead on Miller’s TD pass to Nelson.

It was Mason’s second long touchdown run in as many weeks. He broke off a 69-yard scoring run in a loss to Youngstown State in Brookings last week. Mason finished that game with 161 yards on five carries.

Mason, from Hurley, South Dakota, began his college career as a center fielder for the University of Nebraska baseball team. He spent a semester at Lincoln before transferring to SDSU in January 2022. He missed the 2022 football season with a knee injury, but returned in 2023 and played in nine games as a dual-threat backup quarterback for the Jackrabbits.

Entering Saturday’s game, Mason had 24 carries for 256 yards and four touchdowns.

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In a scoreless first quarter, SDSU escaped most of the potential damage after punter Hunter Dustman dropped the middle snap and stepped off a 13-yard boot to near midfield.

But NDSU couldn’t capitalize. Run back Marty Brown got nine yards on the first play and followed that with a three yard for a first down and the momentum was clearly in the Bison’s favor.

That got stuck. Miller was stopped for no gain on third-and-1 and Brown had the same result on fourth-and-1. The Jackets took over early in the second quarter.

That wasn’t the only mistake by SDSU’s special teams.

Dustman missed a 54-yard field goal on SDSU’s first possession when he hit the left upright and the ball bounced back into the end zone.

NDSU blocked an extra-point kick after the Jackrabbits’ first touchdown, keeping the Bison’s lead at 7-6.

The announced attendance of 18,807 was the largest crowd at the Fargodome since 2019, when 18,923 people showed up to see the Bison play North Dakota. …NDSU starting middle linebacker Nick Kubitz missed the game after being injured last week at Southern Illinois. … Bison starting cornerback Imprison Duffie didn’t play. He suffered a concussion after last week’s game at Southern Illinois. …SDSU was a 2.5-point favorite, according to ESPN Bet. … NDSU said at least 15 NFL scouts were at the game, the most for a Bison home game since 25 attended the lone fall game in 2020 against Central Arkansas. The attractions of that game were the Bison quarterback Trey Lance and left tackle Dillon Radunzboth of whom were taken in the 2021 NFL Draft. NDSU left tackle Gray Zabel and quarterback Cam Molenaar are drawing NFL interest, as is the SDSU quarterback Mark Gronowski and center Guus Molenaar. … Lance, now a backup QB with the Dallas Cowboys, was at the Fargodome and received a loud ovation when he appeared on the big screen. The Cowboys have a bye this week.

Mike McFeely is a columnist for The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead. He started working for The Forum in the 1980s while studying journalism at Minnesota State University Moorhead. He has worked full-time at The Forum since 1990, minus a six-year hiatus when he hosted a local radio talk show.