Alex Eisen/MDN Minot State freshman Joemah Norman going through drills during a practice held earlier this season at Herb Parker Stadium in Minot.

Cory Carignan’s 15 seconds of fame has slowly faded.

His improbable kick return touchdown against ranked Minnesota Duluth last week received national recognition, including the No. 1 spot on SportsCenter Top 10 Plays.

Now, over a week later, normality has been restored. Then comes the realization that Carignan’s touchdown was Minot State’s only score in a 52-7 season-opening defeat in Duluth.

The Beavers surely don’t want their only eye-catching highlight of the year to have happened in the first quarter of the season.

There is more work left to do — 10 more games to come.

“We had guys starting (last week) that haven’t played any meaningful reps in the past, and it was their opportunity to go out there and make their mistakes so they can grow, learn and get better,” MSU head coach Mike Aldrich said. “For me, when I grade them and look at it, there is still so many more positives than there are negatives. It just doesn’t show up in the scoreline.”

Northern State ventures into Herb Parker Stadium this afternoon for the Beavers’ home opener. MSU has never beat the Wolves since joining the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference in 2012.

Both programs are looking for win No. 1 this season.

Northern State was bested by Bemidji State, 33-7, in its season opener on Sept. 5 in Aberdeen, South Dakota.

The Wolves scored in the middle of the fourth quarter when the game was already out of reach. Sophomore tailback Isaiah Cherrier broke free for a 37-yard touchdown run.

While the final score was lopsided, Northern State held its own statistic wise — picking up more first downs (18-15), having seven more minutes in time of possession and narrowly being edged out in total yardage gained (303-292).

The difference maker was four turnovers. Starting quarterback Hunter Trautman threw two interceptions, backup Jared Taylor had another and a fumble was lost on the kickoff return to start the second half.

“Bemidji got after them a little bit,” Aldrich said. “But, I’m sure they are doing the same thing we are doing by working on their big adjustments from game one to game two, and try to clean up what they’re doing.”

MSU was dominated by Duluth in all statistical categories in Week 1, from total yardage (552-161) to first downs (28-11).

The Beavers did show flashes of offensive potential. Senior receiver Lavante Bushnell reeled in three catches for 39 yards, including a flashy one-handed grab.

Bushnell’s spotlight was overshadowed by freshman running back Ali Mohamed, who racked up 89 yards on 14 carries.

“We kind of figured (Mohamed) had that in him and that’s what our hopes were,” Aldrich said. “We went on the shoulders on Isaiah (Hall) for the bulk of the first half being the older veteran. We worked Ali in sparingly as a freshman. Once we got into the second half though, we decided that we wanted to give him a lot more meaningful reps and see what he could do running the football.”

Aldrich and the Beavers expect to see a similar defense with altered coverages and blitz packages this afternoon. A bulk of the teams around the NSIC line up the same way on defense. It’s the different variations that can cause problems.

The Beavers’ defense is aiming to slow down Trautman and his top receiving target Dakota Larson, who was named the 2018 NSIC Offensive Newcomer of the Year.

“Everything is going to go through (Larson) and the decisions he makes,” Aldrich said. “So, we need to be sound and sure. Don’t give him anything easy. Last year, early in the game, I think we gave him a lot of easy things for him to make some plays off of.”

No better time than the home opener to flip the script around and snap an ongoing nine-game losing streak that has carried over from last season.

“We know there are good things to come,” Aldrich said. “We can’t get down after a bad game and define what we are going to be about for the season. It’s only one game.

“I likened it to them taking a test in a college class. If you take your first test and you don’t do well, that doesn’t determine your final grade. As long as you work hard to try and get better on the next one.”

Alex Eisen covers Minot State athletics, the Minot Minotauros and high school sports. Follow him on Twitter @AEisen13.