Despite moving from the Football Bowl Subdivsion to the Football Championship Subdivision last year, the University of Idaho's football program is still reaping the financial benefits of a team with FBS status.

Idaho will be getting a $1.45 million guarantee for playing at Penn State on Saturday, a payday that would be excellent for an FBS team and unheard-of for an FCS team. But the schools signed their contract in the summer of 2015, about eight months before Idaho announced its plan to change classifications. The agreement did not include language allowing Penn State to drop the game in such a circumstance. And Penn State is honoring the deal in full.

Without confirming the dollar figure, a Penn State athletics spokeswoman said in a statement: "We are excited to host Idaho, and we expect to pay the amount described in the contract."

Idaho similarly collected $1.2 million for playing at Florida last season, Florida athletics spokesman Steve McClain confirmed. And according to documents Idaho provided in response to an open-records request, the school has a contract with Indiana for games in 2021 and 2022 at Indiana that are set to pay $1.2 million and $1.3 million.

However, in March 2017, LSU canceled a game against the Vandals that had been set for the 2020 season and a $1.4 million guarantee, invoking language in their contract that allowed either school to drop the game without financial penalty if the other was not an FBS member at least 24 months prior to the game date and at the time the game was played.

Such provisions are not common, but LSU's was not unique. The agreement for 2018 and 2019 games between Texas-El Paso and New Mexico State, signed in early 2017, states that "should New Mexico State University drop from Division I FBS to FCS classification this contract is considered null and void."

Guarantee games against FCS schools traditionally cost less since FBS teams can count only one win against those programs toward their bowl eligibility. Also, the pool of FCS teams willing to play a one-off away game is greater than the number of FBS schools inclined to do the same.

Among non-conference games this season for which USA TODAY Sports could obtain payment terms, Idaho's payout from Penn State is more than double the next-highest amount an FCS school is collecting for a game against an FBS school — the $650,000 that Montana will get for playing Oregon on Sept. 14. University of California-Davis and Sacramento State each will receive $625,000 for games, respectively, against California and Arizona State.

Idaho associate athletic director for communications Mike Walsh told USA TODAY Sports that the school expects to be paid in full according to the terms in the contract.

As for whether Penn State officials approached the university to renegotiate the deal following the FCS transition, Walsh told USA TODAY Sports: "With our recent staff turnover, we cannot say with 100 percent certainty whether or not a conversation was ever had with Penn State regarding our transition. However, if that did occur, the discussions did not rise to the level of the athletic director seeking input and counsel from other members of the department, which did occur with other football game contracts for the same reason."

Former athletic director Rob Spear, who signed the contract with Penn State on Idaho's behalf, left the school in 2018. Reached vie email, he declined to comment on the deal.

Idaho's non-conference game contracts with Power Five conference schools that have been negotiated since it announced the move to FCS involve guarantees typically found at the top end of the range for such deals. Games with Washington State in 2020, '22 and '25 are set to pay $550,000, $575,000 and $625,000. A meeting with Oregon State in 2021 is set for $675,000, as is a meeting with Oregon in 2024.

Contributing: Steve Berkowitz, Lila Bromberg, Andy Kostka