FAIRMONT, W.Va. -- Fairmont State University, along with the Mountain East Conference, announced its 11-game football schedule for the 2017 season on Friday afternoon.
 
The Falcons, who ended last season ranked in the top 25 in both national polls (No. 23 NFCA / No. 24 D2Football.com), will open their 2017 grid slate with an in-region non-conference showdown with East Stroudsburg at Duvall-Rosier Field on Thursday, Aug. 31 at 7 p.m. Despite going just 4-7 during the 2016 season, the Warriors scored 30 or more points in seven games a season ago.
 
Fairmont State will open Mountain East Conference play with its first road trip of the season on Saturday, Sept. 9 with a 1 p.m. kickoff at Urbana. The Falcons will return home just five days later for another Thursday home game on Sept. 14 against the Bobcats of West Virginia Wesleyan.
 
FSU will stay on Thursday night for the third time in the first four weeks of the season with a trip to the University of Charleston on Sept. 21.
 
The Falcons close out the month of September during homecoming weekend on Sept. 30 when UVa-Wise visits Fairmont for a 2 p.m. kickoff.
 
The month of October opens with a trip to northeast Ohio for a 12 noon kickoff at Notre Dame College in a matchup of two of the top three teams in the MEC a season ago.
 
FSU will return home just five days later for a Thursday night showdown against the defending MEC Champion Rams of Shepherd on Oct. 12 at 7 p.m. Last season's top 25 matchup in Shepherdstown set a single-game attendance record at Ram Stadium with 6,751 in attendance. Shepherd handed Fairmont its only loss of the 2016 regular season, 27-17.
 
The next three games on the FSU slate will be Saturday matchups at Glenville State (10/21), a home matchup against West Virginia State (10/28) and a trip to Concord (11/4) to open the month of November. Game times for each game of the three games will be announced in the near future.
 
FSU ends the 2017 campaign with a 7 p.m. kickoff against West Liberty on Thursday, Nov. 9 at Duvall-Rosier Field.
 
Season tickets for the 2017 football season will go on sale in the near future.