NLA: Zim on Jacks' debacle & UND showdown, latest on Chase Mason, booing, coaching, USD's surge, FCS playoff picture

 It was brutal. It was comical. It was full of "third grade mistakes" and looked like a football team "disinterested in playing competent football.   There aren't big enough words to describe South Dakota State falling behind 35-0 at home and eventually suffering a fourth consecutive loss after starting the season 7-0.   Matt Zimmer tried in his game column on Saturday. With three days to process the debacle — which was followed by an inspired, dizzying 21-point SDSU comeback to lose 35-21 to Illinois State — Zim has even more words and searches for reasons for all the mistakes that had Jackrabbits made.   Was it a lack of confidence? A lack of experience in facing this kind of a slump and adversity?    How about coaching and play-calling?   No matter what it was, it led to a chorus of "boos" from the crowd in Brookings. Was such howling warranted? Should it be in college athletics?   Zim tackles all this, plus the latest Chase Mason Magical Mystery Tour that heads to Grand Forks for the regular season finale and what appears to be a "do or die" and "win and you're in" showdown with North Dakota.    What is Zim's sense of Mason's availability and playability based on what Dan Jackson is saying — including here on Happy Hour — and how much difference Mason playing would make in the Jacks' chances of beating the Fighting Hawks.     If Mason plays, and plays decent, and the Jacks lose, do they still deserve a playoff spot?   Other saucy topics — SDSU's offer to Brody Schafer, his older brother Tate's FCS marketability after lighting things up at USF, the screwiness of the polls, Zim and John's unworn Jackrabbit and Coyote apparel, Outkast, The Replacements, New Kids on the Block, and Larry Bird's trash talking before NBA All-Star 3-point shooting contests.   Oh, and how about those USD Coyotes? Yes, Zim has plenty of thoughts on the three-game winning streak, all against Top 25 teams, to finish the season and assure a playoff spot.   The Yotes deserve plenty of time. The Jacks, though — with their playoff uncertainty, wild recent tailspin, and the storylines of the game they are playing Saturday while USD is off — take up most of the hour.