The Cougars played their home games at Bishop John D'Arcy Stadium and were members of the Mid-States Football Association (MSFA) Mideast League (MEL).
9/9/2017 - The Cougars returned home to defend their national championship against the like-named St. Francis Fighting Saints.
But from that point, the home team controlled the game as their lead expanded to 48-9 at the half and 61-9 early in the fourth quarter.
Saint Francis prevailed over St. Ambrose, 49-21, in a game highlighted by a record-setting performance by QB Nick Ferrer.
Ferrer threw for six touchdowns to become the all-time leader in career TD passes thrown by a USF quarterback.
9/23/2017 - A rare football oddity was witnessed by the fans who attended the Saint Francis homecoming game.
9/30/2017 - The Cougars faced their stiffest challenge this year as they went on the road to visit conference rival Marian University.
Marian opened the game with a challenge to the Cougars, scoring on their first 3 possessions to take early leads of 14-0 and 17-3.
But the Cougar defense steadied itself, holding Marian to 7 points the rest of the way, including a scoreless second half.
Saint Francis scored the last points of the game to give them their only lead with less than 7 minutes to play in the final quarter.
The Cougars won the time-of-possession battle, 41 minutes to 19, due in part to the quick strikes of the Marian offense in the first half.
USF scored 4 touchdowns: 3 by Green rushes, and one via a 46-yard fumble recovery by Ryan Johnson, in addition to 3 field goals.
10/14/2017 - The Cougars continued their mid-season playoff-like schedule with their fourth game in a row against a ranked or tough opponent.
The Cougars went on the road to face another conference unbeaten, the Siena Heights Saints, winners of their previous four games.
But the Cougars served notice early when Justin Green broke a 57-yard TD run on the first drive of the game.
A steady drizzle made for messy play in the first half, and the Cougars' defense held Siena Heights to a safety earned when the Saints blocked a punt attempt that sent the ball out of the back of the end zone.
10/28/2017 - Today's game matched the undefeated and #1-ranked USF Cougars against the winless conference foes from Lindenwood-Belleville.
The Cougars boasted the top-ranked offense in the MSFA, and the Lynx brought the worst-ranked defense to town.
Playing a home game against their rivals from just down interstate I-69, USF prevailed 40-20 over the Taylor University Crusaders.
Saint Francis responded quickly and explosively, taking the opening kick and returning it for an 86-yard touchdown by Justin Green.
11/25/2017 - The Cougars returned to the playing field in a quarterfinal match vs. the 10th-ranked Red Raiders from Northwestern College (IA).
Both teams sported highly ranked defenses and offenses that were capable of scoring plenty of points.
12/02/2017 - The Cougars were home to host the #3-ranked Morningside Mustangs for the right to travel to Daytona Beach and the NAIA Football National Championship.
The two undefeateds were similar in makeup, with each sporting a passing quarterback, a leading rusher, and a stingy defense.
The two teams traded punts before Saint Francis marched the field for the first of three consecutive TD drives that gave them a 19-3 advantage at the end of the 1st quarter.
But injured kicker Gavin Gardner was unable to return to the game, and Saint Francis missed 5 straight 2-point conversions before trying a failed kick attempt after their final score.
On the other hand, Morningside converted 2 field goal attempts and 2 2-point conversions to give them a decided advantage in the kicking output.
This effort outperformed the NAIA's leading rusher, the Mustangs' RB Bubba Jenkins, who gained a net of 73 yards on 24 rushing attempts, or just over 3.0 yards/attempt.
Led by the NAIA Player of the Year, quarterback Nick Ferrer, the Cougars completed the undefeated season by defeating the Eagles 24-13.
The completion of back-to-back national championships was only the 5th time that feat had been performed in NAIA football history.