HARRISONBURG — From the head coach down to the last player on the scout team, James Madison collectively knew today would come.

“Coming into the season, two of our goals were to be CAA champions and be national champions,” JMU senior cornerback Taylor Reynolds said. “And we knew we’d have to go through North Dakota State eventually to get the national championship.”

Tonight, the fourth-seeded Dukes meet five-time defending national champion and top-seeded North Dakota State in the semifinals of the FCS Playoffs at the FargoDome in Fargo, N.D.

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN2, with the winner moving on to the national title game in Frisco, Texas, on Jan. 7.

“As soon as the brackets came out back at the end of the regular season and you saw the path we would have to potentially take to get to the national championship game, I don’t think any one of us in our program went without noticing that North Dakota State would be the probable matchup in the national semifinal,” first-year JMU coach Mike Houston said. “They are the standard for the FCS level.”

The Bison have won 22 straight playoff games — a streak that started with a win over JMU in the lone previous meeting between the programs. North Dakota State beat the Dukes 26-14 in the second round of the 2011 playoffs.

During the streak, North Dakota State also defeated a Colonial Athletic Association team in the semifinal round twice — Richmond last year and New Hampshire in 2013.

“We knew our road would have to go through there,” JMU offensive coordinator Donnie Kirkpatrick said. “Everyone in this league, the last three or four years, have had to go up there. And until someone beats them, it’s the ol’ Ric Flair deal — ‘to be the man, you have to beat the man.’”

To beat North Dakota State (12-1), JMU (12-1) plans on sticking to what has led to its success through the regular season and its postseason run.

The Dukes want to run the ball with All-American senior running back Khalid Abdullah in order to open up one-on-one matchups for receivers like senior Brandon Ravenel and junior Terrence Alls in the passing game.

Abdullah enters the contest tied for first nationally with 20 rushing touchdowns and fourth nationally in rushing with 1,528 yards.

North Dakota State yields less than 100 yards on the ground per game.

“You don’t get away from who you are,” Kirkpatrick said. “We have good players and we have good schemes, and they do have to stop us, too.”

JMU junior quarterback Bryan Schor has also accounted for 34 touchdowns this season.

North Dakota State defensive end Greg Menard said the battle between his Bison defensive line and JMU’s offensive line would determine whether or not the Dukes could move the ball.

“A lot of teams that are hurry-up or spread teams will just try to get in your way, but they will not,” Menard said. “They try to get you going backward. That offensive line will come at us and we will come at them. The most physical team will win this game, that’s for sure.”

Houston said he’s built JMU to match North Dakota State, physically.

When North Dakota State has the ball, Houston said the JMU defense must find a way off the field in three downs.

In its win over South Dakota State in the quarterfinal, NDSU’s offense put together a 20-play, 12-minute drive resulting in a 3-yard touchdown for quarterback Easton Stick.

Against the Jackrabbits, North Dakota State converted 10 first downs on 13 third-down tries.

“We know the longer we’re on the field and the longer our defense is on the sideline to rest and make adjustments, it’s good,” Stick said. “We gain a ton of momentum doing that, and when you can capitalize with seven points, that’s huge as far as momentum goes.”

Stick, in his sophomore season after taking over the role as starter for former Bison signal-caller and current Philadelphia Eagles’ quarterback Carson Wentz, has thrown for 19 touchdowns and rushed for seven scores.

“They do a great job with formations and motion and shifting to get more numbers at the point of contact than their opponent does,” Houston said. “They always get positive yardage, so we have to do a great job defensively with our adjustments, especially with our safeties, linebackers and corners. We need to match their shifts and motions.

“If this turns into a third-and-2 day all day, we’re going to struggle.”

The Dukes come off perhaps their best defensive performance of the year, limiting Sam Houston State’s top-scoring offense to just seven points during the quarterfinals.

Abdullah said one more key to victory for JMU is to limit mistakes. He said North Dakota State is too good to give extra possessions to, or allow the Bison any easy points.

“To me, even more impressive than their physicality, I would say is their discipline,” Abdullah said. “They’re never in the wrong spot. If you drew up a defense, that’s exactly what it should look like.

“That discipline is key because they capitalize on other team’s mistakes. We have to make sure we go out there and minimize our mistakes.”

A win for JMU, would give the program its first national title game berth since 2004 when it won the championship over Montana.