The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and is a member of the Southland Conference.

The team plays its home games at the 15,971 seat Harry Turpin Stadium in Natchitoches, Louisiana.

[4] Northwestern State football has the distinction of being the only NCAA division IAA/FCS member to have 2 NFL rookies of the year.

In 1981, Joe Delaney, running back for the Kansas City Chiefs, was awarded the AFC Rookie of the year by UPI.

Tradition has it that the winner of the annual NSU and SFA football game keeps Chief Caddo on their respective campus.

[5] In the 1992 edition of the rivalry game, the teams' mascots Vic the Demon and Chief Brave Spirit got involved in a fight that distracted television cameras to the point that the entire altercation is caught on video.

In the scuffle, Vic the Demon's head is ripped off as the two crashed to the ground behind one of the end zones, which according to the video clip breaks a "cardinal rule" of being a mascot.