UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - Last weekend, the Saginaw Valley State football team suffered its first loss of the season at the hands of 2nd ranked Grand Valley State. And it doesn't get any easier this Saturday when they face off against the defending national champions.

The Cardinals will host top-ranked Ferris State, which will be their third nationally-ranked opponent this season. SVSU nearly pulled off the upset last season as the Bulldogs needed overtime to come away with the two-point victory, by far their closes win of the season Head coach Ryan Brady says the only way his team is going to get better is by playing teams like FSU.

"This is what we want to do if we want to take the next step here at Saginaw Valley. We beat Bowie State earlier. They were #9. Then we played #2. Now we're going to play #1. And then next week, we'll play #8 or #7 or whatever they're going to be. That's exciting. And ultimately, we want to be a playoff team here. We don't just want to get to the playoffs. We want to beat these kinds of teams," Brady said.

SVSU will be looking for its first win over Ferris State since 2013. Kick-off at Wickes Memorial Stadium on Saturday is set for 2 p.m.