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North Dakota State, South Dakota State and the tale of the Dakota Marker

It's just a big ol' block of stone. It isn't sculpted. It's not bronzed or dipped in gold. It hasn't been carved into the image of a football or a dude carrying a football. There are no corporate logos. Just simple black block letters embossed into three sides of the rectangular rock, reading "S.D.", "N.D." and "190 M."

The quartzite it is made from is roughly a billion years old, exposed on the Earth's surface by the flow of the Big Sioux River after its spigot was turned on more than 10,000 years ago. Yet this trophy is so young it couldn't yet buy itself a drink if it wanted to.