FARGO (AP) - There were many years when Bob Belquist was on the football fence when it came to being a fan of the University of North Dakota or North Dakota State - he attended both schools.

That changed on a fall day in 1999 in the northeast corner of the Fargodome. His oldest son, Elliott, was on an NDSU recruiting visit.

"I'll never forget the day," Bob said. "We're in the end zone, and the players came out of the (inflatable) helmet. He looked at me and said, 'Dad, doesn't that give you the chills?' "

That started Elliott's career as a Bison receiver from 2000-03. One year later, younger brother Alex, also a receiver, enrolled at NDSU.

Now, the 10-year run of Belquists at NDSU is ending.

That's 10 years of some of the most memorable games in NDSU history. Bob and Deb Belquist, an NDSU graduate, were in Missoula, Mont., in 2003 when the Bison upset the University of Montana.

With Alex, they saw NDSU's first win against an NCAA Division I-A opponent when the Bison won at Ball State. They saw NDSU beat Mid-American Conference champCentral Michigan, and they saw the Bison win at the University of Minnesota last year.

Not bad for a couple of kids who grew up playing small-town ball in New Rockford. Elliott played 11-man football, but the school dropped to 9-man when Alex got older.

"I wanted to break his records," Alex said. "We've had some good conversations about that. Who was the better running back in high school? But we played on totally different teams."

NDSU signed Alex after watching him lead New Rockford-Sheyenne to the 9-man championship game. He was the North Dakota 9-man Player of the Year.

His career numbers included 94 touchdowns. He also was an all-state basketball player and high-jumped 6 feet, 5 inches.

"And he never practiced a day with that event," Bob said.

The college careers of Elliott and Alex were similar. They were backups their first two years. In his senior year Elliott was third on the team with 29 receptions.

"He's definitely been a big influence on me, just on how successful he was," said Alex, who bettered his brother's numbers last year with 35 catches for 499 yards.

"We feel fortunate they were able to play there," Bob said of his sons. "There was no doubt where they wanted to play, but whether they were good enough was the question. But both made it."