Let's just get down to business. No pussyfooting around.

Happy Hour's weekly chat with South Dakota football coach Travis Johansen spends one opening question on the impressive 42-21 win over Drake — the Coyotes' second half defense after giving up just 87 total yards before halftime is a sore spot — and then barrels right into Saturday's showdown at No. 1 North Dakota State for the next 20-plus minutes.

Ready or not, here come the Bison, who return 88 percent of their players from last year's national championship squad and at 3-0 are:

• Coming off three hammerings of unranked FCS foes by a combined 138-17
• Fresh off a bye week — extra week to prepare for USD
• Out for blood after last year's last-minute loss in Vermillion that gave USD a share of the MVFC title with NDSU and SDSU
• 14-0 in the Fargodome since losing to USD 24-19 there in 2023
• Dominating the line of scrimmage, averaging 5.4 yards per rush while giving up just 2.4 yards per carry
• Sporting new dual threat quarterback Cole Payton, who is torching defenses by completing 71% of his passes for 235 yards per game (he's been done by the fourth quarter in each) and a staggering 13 yards per attempt, meaning the Bison are bombing the ball down the field. He has thrown six TD passes and zero interceptions and has also ran at a 6.5 yards per attempt clip (58 yards per game) with one touchdown run.
• Enjoying the spoils of NIL boosters paying FBS-coveted burner wideout Bryce Lance enough to return to Fargo to the tune of 80 yards per game and 21 yards per catch (1 TD) despite being often double-covered
• Giving up just 5.6 points per game, 158 total yards per game, and just 3.2 yards per play with a defense that returns many of its best weapons from 2024

So, what makes this Bison team so dominant (besides opponents who combine for a 3-8 record), and how do the Coyotes go up and beat them with the USD's brand of football, knowing they might not be catching NDSU off guard like the Yotes might have in their 24-19 win in Fargo in 2023 — which, like this matchup, came in a late September conference opener but unlike this matchup came with USD coming off a 3-8 season and a 17-point loss to the Bison the year before in 2022?

What does Johansen mean of USD quarterback Aidan Bouman's performance against Drake (13-for-20, 226 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT) when he says "that was Aidan Bouman," and how does Bouman pull off another upset over the Bison after the 2024 late-game heroics (two scoring drives and multiple deep completions in the final four minutes to erase a double-digit deficit)?

Johansen is as prepared to answer these questions as he will be for the Bison. The execution? Well, we all know coaches all think it comes down to execution.

Before the Johansen conversation, Happy Hour host John Gaskins asks Iowa fans to give Mark Gronowski more time before dropping the gavel on if the $2 million to pay him was worth it. After all, the judgements of his first couple starts are proving to be premature.

After the Johansen chat, Iowa's all-time passing leader Chuck Long picks apart Gronowski's first four games in Iowa City. Long threw for over 10,000 yards for the Hawkeyes, culminating in a senior season where he guided the 1985 Hawkeyes to a win-for-the-ages over No. 1 Michigan en route to Hayden Fry's second Rose Bowl.

After finishing second to Bo Jackson in Heisman Trophy voting, Long spent nearly a decade in the NFL with the Detroit Lions and L.A. Rams before a college coaching career that included time at Iowa under Fry and Kirk Ferentz, followed by a national title at Oklahoma with Bob Stoops and a head coaching stint at San Diego State. Long's acumen as a veteran quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator in both the college and pro ranks — he has served as Stoop's play-caller for the XFL and UFL's Arlington Renegades the last three years — serves him well in evaluating Gronowski's strengths and weaknesses.

What are those strengths and weaknesses? How much has Gronowski been held back by offensive coordinator Tim Lester? Can Gronowksi continue to pass (and run) the Hawkeyes to victory, when needed, like he did against Rutgers last Friday? And how can the Hawkeyes upset the freight train that is No. 11 Indiana off a 63-10 steamrolling of then-No. 9 Illinois?

Long also offers his view on the Kirk Ferentz era at Iowa and if the Big Ten's new all-time wins leader needs to loosen up and open up the offense to unlock something beyond the 8-9 win seasons and second-tier bowl berths that have become customary if not mundane in Iowa City.

Finally, Long offers a story about that iconic win over Michigan 40 years ago — which the Hawekyes are celebrating at Kinnick Stadium on Saturday — and a glimpse into what made Ferentz's predecessor Fry an icon.