Anthony Chiusano | NCAA.com | September 17, 2019

FCS football rankings: Towson joins top 5; Eastern Washington plunges in poll

Check out this week's FCS top plays

The winner of this season's first top-10 meeting took a big step up in the latest FCS Coaches' Poll, released Monday, Sept. 16.

Towson (3-0) climbed three spots to No. 5 after a 45-23 in-conference win over then-No. 9 Maine on Saturday. The Tigers slot behind an unchanged top 4, led by still-unanimous No. 1 North Dakota State.

Here is Monday's full top 25:

RANK	SCHOOL	REC.	PTS.	PREV.
1	North Dakota State (26)	3-0	650	1
2	James Madison	2-1	621	2
3	South Dakota State	2-1	593	3
4	UC Davis	2-1	570	4
5	Towson	3-0	521	8
6	Kennesaw State	2-1	511	7
7	Weber State	1-2	450	6
8	Northern Iowa	1-1	449	10
9	Nicholls	1-1	396	11
10	Illinois State	2-1	370	12
11	Eastern Washington	1-2	367	5
12	Central Arkansas	3-0	359	14
13	Jacksonville State	2-1	358	16
14	Montana State	2-1	340	15
15	Furman	1-2	281	13
16	Maine	1-2	269	9
17	North Carolina A&T	2-1	230	17
18	Villanova	3-0	215	23
19	Montana	2-1	189	T-18
20	Delaware	2-1	153	T-18
21	Youngstown State	3-0	104	NR
22	Elon	2-1	80	NR
23	Southeastern Louisiana	1-1	75	24
24	Princeton	0-0	61	25
25	Southeast Missouri State	1-2	57	20

Dropped Out: Sam Houston St. (21), Wofford (22).

Others Receiving Votes: North Dakota, 33; Sam Houston St., 26; South Carolina St., 20; The Citadel, 16; Houston Baptist, 11; Indiana St., 10; Northern Arizona, 10; Sacramento St., 9; Stony Brook, 9; Dayton, 7; McNeese, 7; William & Mary, 7; Mercer, 4; Yale, 4; Dartmouth, 3; Southern Illinois, 3; Austin Peay, 2.

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Towson continues climb up the poll

The No. 5 Tigers have improved at least one spot in each week's poll so far in 2019, starting as preseason No. 12. Towson has averaged more than 38 points per game in its three wins over The Citadel, N.C. Central and Maine.

In its latest win, Towson outscored the Black Bears 28-10 in the second half. Quarterback Tom Flacco continued his fine senior season with 300 all-purpose yards, a passing touchdown and zero turnovers.

The road gets tougher for the on-the-rise Tigers as CAA play heats up. Towson will next host No. 18 Villanova on Saturday before heading to The Swamp to play FBS Florida in Gainesville. A two-game stretch in late October sees the Tigers traveling to No. 2 James Madison and hosting No. 20 Delaware.

Holy interception 🤯#FCS
(via @Towson_FB)pic.twitter.com/fl3ZMHjkkF
— FCS Football (@NCAA_FCS) September 15, 2019

North Dakota State maintains stronghold of No. 1 ahead of top-4 showdown

North Dakota State received all 26 first-place votes for the second straight week after cruising past then-No. 18 Delaware 47-22 in Week 3. James Madison, South Dakota State and UC Davis also all won by a combined average of 35.7 points to keep pace in the top 4.

That sets up a must-see showdown in Fargo this Saturday afternoon between NDSU and UC Davis at 3:30 p.m. ET. It will be the second top-10 matchup of the season and the first top-5 battle.

This game will be an exhibition of two of the most exciting quarterbacks so far in this young season, despite differences in experience. Redshirt freshman Trey Lance, three starts into his Bison career, has completed 79.6 percent of his passes and is averaging 8.7 yards per carry while accounting for 13 total touchdowns. UC Davis senior Jake Maier, the returning leader in touchdown passes, already has six this year to go with 307 passing yards per game.

A win in Fargo could catapult the Aggies over James Madison and SDSU for the top spot in next week's rankings. But the Bison have won 24 straight games, third best in FCS history.

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Eastern Washington falls out of top 10

Maine and Eastern Washington were this week's biggest droppers following losses against fellow ranked teams. EWU fell short in a 49-45 shootout to Jacksonville State to plummet six spots to No. 11.

EWU opened up a commanding 28-7 lead at the end of the first quarter and led for all but 1:12 in the game. But a 21-0 JSU run in the final frame was enough to knock off the defending national runner-up. Gamecocks quarterback Zerrick Cooper finished with 337 total yards and four touchdowns.

Jacksonville State has bounced back nicely since losing to Southeastern Louisiana in Week 1. The No. 13 Gamecocks, preseason No. 6, are now 2-1 with wins over Chattanooga and Eastern Washington.

Games to watch in Week 4

Two ranked matchups highlight the Saturday schedule in Week 4 of FCS football. No. 1 North Dakota State hosts No. 4 UC Davis at 3:30 p.m. ET, followed by No. 5 Towson vs. No. 18 Villanova at 6 p.m. ET.

Here are some more top games to watch this weekend:

Maine at Colgate | Noon ET | Live stats
Monmouth at Montana | 3 p.m. ET | Live stats
James Madison at Chattanooga | 4 p.m. ET | Live stats
Nicholls at Stephen F. Austin | 7 p.m. ET | Live stats
Northern Arizona at Illinois State | 7:30 p.m. ET | Live stats

FULL FCS WEEK 4 SCOREBOARD