Northwestern State and Stephen F. Austin first met on the gridiron on Nov. 7, 1924. It was the second season for the young Lumberjacks against a Demons program that began in 1907. What followed was a natural rivalry for two schools 110 miles apart that have seemingly been connected since the towns were first established.
The two schools consistently met on the field from November 1924 through 1946, outside of 1929, when the game was held in late October. The series was paused from 1946 through 1955, when the rivalry was played in September or early October.
That changed in 1984 when the game moved to Thanksgiving weekend and coincided with the final week of the regular season. Over time, the game became synonymous with other well-known rivalry games on Thanksgiving weekend, including Harvard-Yale, Ohio State-Michigan, Alabama-Auburn, and Texas-Texas A&M.
Then, the world shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The Lumberjacks chose to play a reduced fall schedule, while the Demons decided to play during the Spring 2021 season, thus pausing a rivalry that had been played for 46 consecutive years.
By the time the Fall 2021 season began, the Lumberjacks had departed the Southland Conference for the Western Athletic Conference.