The New Mexico State Aggies will play at the Northwestern Wildcats in 2023, FBSchedules.com has learned.

A copy of the contract was obtained from New Mexico State University via a state public records request.

New Mexico State will travel to take on Northwestern at Ryan Field in Evanston, Ill., on Saturday, October 28, 2023. The Wildcats will pay the Aggies a $1.2 million guarantee for the game, according to the copy of the contract.

The 2023 contest between New Mexico State and Northwestern will mark the first-ever meeting between the two schools on the gridiron.

New Mexico State, a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) Independent, now has nine opponents scheduled for the 2023 season. The Aggies are currently scheduled to open the season at home against UMass in Week Zero (Saturday, Aug. 26).

Other home opponents for New Mexico State in 2023 include UTEP (Oct. 7) and Liberty (Nov. 25). Road opponents include San Diego State (Sept. 2), Hawaii (Sept. 23), Louisiana (Oct. 14), Auburn (Nov. 18), and New Mexico (date TBA), in addition to the newly scheduled Northwestern contest.

New Mexico State is the second known non-conference opponent for Northwestern in 2023. The Wildcats are also slated to play at Duke on Sept. 9.

Northwestern’s Big Ten football schedule has already been released for the 2023 season. The Wildcats are scheduled to host Penn State (Sept. 23), Iowa (Oct. 14), Minnesota (Oct. 21), Purdue (Nov. 11), and Maryland (Nov. 18). Northwestern will travel to face Rutgers (Sept. 2), Nebraska (Sept. 30), Wisconsin (Nov. 4), and Illinois (Nov. 25).

Football Schedules