Forecast! Jacks-EIU, Yotes-Youngstown, USF-Mankato, Top 5 prep battles and more with Trent Singer and a Hamm's-drinking panda bear from Orion Pub in downtown Sioux Falls. Wow, what a long title! Are you still reading it???

We saw what the Jackrabbits did to Youngstown State last week in a Top Ten tilt— and for the whole second half, SDSU ran all over the Penguins in Brookings without star quarterback Chase Mason. Now, it's the Coyotes' turn to take on the Penguins, in a Top 11 tilt tomorrow in Youngstown (USD is No. 8 and YSU is No. 11 in the FCS Stats Perform Top 25 poll). Good news for USD: The Yotes have the services of star quarterback and strong early Jerry Rice Award candidate (according to FCS analyst Sam Herder on Wednesday's Happy Hour) Austyn Modrzewski, the "Magic Man." Matt Zimmer coined the nickname for the head-turning freshman on the latest "Nobody's Listening Anyway" podcast with the Happy Hour host, in honor of early 1990's Green Bay Packers quarterback Don Majkowski, who had a fleeting moment of playmaking fame just before Brett Favre swiftly made people mostly forget about "The Magic Man." Bad news for USD: The Penguins have the services of 2025 Walter Payton Award quarterback Beau Brungard are likely seething from that loss last week and get a hungry home crowd to help them take out their frustrations on the Yotes, who are desparate to not start 2-0 in Valley play. Good news for USD: The Jacks gave the Yotes a handy guide on film to how to move on the Penguins defense and limit Brungard's offense. Bad news for USD: The Yotes are on short rest, returning from Boise at 8 a.m. on Sunday after a late-night game. They are making a long trip for the second consecutive week and may be physically and psychologically taxed, similar to the Penguins, after their own close, hard-hitting loss. Who knows how much any of this "news" will matter on a Saturday in "The Ice Castle" of Ohio, where the forecast calls for sunny, 70-degree conditions, which suit the explosive Yotes aerial attack far better than a cold and wet and windy afternoon. What else will play into USD's conference opener? Happy Hour has its own weekly Football Forecast with the Happy Hour host and Sioux Falls Live sportswriter Trent Singer to go deep. Other games to preview: * SDSU's non-conference closer with Eastern Illinois. The Jacks are a five touchdown favorite despite Mason's absence following last Saturday's late first half "lower body sprain." What should we expect from the first start from Northern Illinois transfer Josh Holst and the Jacks' FCS Top 5 offense against a 1-3 Panthers squad already licking wounds from blowout losses at Minnesota and Illinois State and even a loss to MVFC bottom half inhabitant Indiana State? * USF's home showdown with Div. II No. 3 Minnesota State, where Cougar coach Jim Glogowski toiled as defensive coordinator to keep the Mavericks a national powerhouse for seven years before coming to Sioux Falls three years ago. The Coo lost a 31-point lead at U-Mary last week but secured a second-consecutive overtime win. Can they take a so-far dominant MSU outfit (average score 37-13) to the wire at Bob Young Field on a day when USF's national title teams from 1996 and 2006 will be honored? * A pair of Top 5 Friday night face-offs in local high school ball: No. 2 Tea Area at No. 1 Pierre in Class 11AA and No. 5 Dell Rapids at No. 1 Sioux Falls Christian in 11A. Also, a review of then-No. 2 Jefferson's 20-14 win at then-No. 1 Brandon Valley in the 11AAA headliner that flipped those two teams' rankings. Plus, it's a sensational slate of Top 25 FBS games, as well, like: * USF legend Kalen Deboer's No. 8 Alabama hosting South Carolina * Former SDSU player and coach Jimmy Rogers' Iowa State hosting No. 15 Utah * Aberdeen native Josh Heupel's No. 13 Tennessee hosting No. 1 Texas. The hosts take a swig of some of those showdowns as a cardboard panda enjoys a can of Hamm's the whole hour.