GRAND FORKS -- The UND football debuts for head coach Eric Schmidt and quarterback Jerry Kaminski will come Saturday in front of roughly 50,000 at Kansas State.
The 6 p.m. kickoff in Manhattan kicks off a new era for the Fighting Hawks -- a program with an overhauled coaching staff, defensive scheme, facilities and overall support.
Can it also kick off a new era in terms of road reputation?
The Fighting Hawks are 1-9 the last two years on the road, with the lone victory coming at Missouri Valley Football Conference newcomer Murray State.
UND and Schmidt will change some of the Hawks' road routine, including leaving later in the day Friday in order to kill less time in the hotel.
For Schmidt, though, the path to road success is more about mental makeup than travel schedules.
"I think it's something, when we talked about it, it's upping our expectation of hard ... I think that's part of it, right?" Schmidt said. "To go on the road in a hostile environment, you've got to be able to be mentally and physically tough. It's not going to be easy. You're going to be put in some adverse situations and there's going to be a lot of momentum swings. You won't have your building and your crowd with that energy.
"I think we've addressed it in certain ways -- how we're going to travel, when we're going to travel, how we're going to do things. Ultimately, it's about our guys not focusing on the environment but focusing on their preparation and what they can do to be able to help our football team win games."
UND has one FBS win as a Division I program, beating Wyoming 10 years ago in Laramie.
The Hawks were a 2-point conversion away from winning two in a row, falling in heart-breaking fashion at Bowling Green in 2016.
In recent years, UND has had dangerous moments in games against Nebraska, Boise State, Iowa State and Utah State.
In the end, UND's road woes are far more about losing to struggling MVFC programs like Indiana State than FBS outcomes. However, this weekend provides an opportunity to take steps in developing confidence away from the friendly confines of the Alerus Center.
"I don't really want to think too much about last year because that doesn't have anything to do with this year," UND second-year captain Malachi McNeal said. "But, obviously, we're doing things a little bit different with Coach Schmidt. It won't be anything too drastic. We need to go out there and create our own energy, making sure we're into the game and not worrying about other factors.
"I think that kind of got in our way a lot last year, just worrying about maybe the crowd isn't into it and stuff like that. I don't think there should really be a difference where we play -- play at home, play there or play on concrete. Doesn't matter. We should be able to play a good football game."