Alabama and Notre Dame....were not good football teams upon the arrival of those two. As bad of shape as UND, no. But they didn't merely crack the top 24 teams within a few years...they reached(or nearly reached) the pinnacle of collegiate football.
Nick Saban. Urban Meyer. Brian Kelly. These guys all had their teams in title games within 3 years of getting their current jobs. Granted, 3 football schools.
NDSU's campus is never going to be easier on the eyes than UND's. That'd require almost a complete reboot. Not a huge deal, doesn't seem to be preventing students from wanting to go there.
Enrollment... they've been pretty even the past decade or so, yeah?
So your offense only gets 28 points despite getting at least one short field, but likely two or three via D/ST, and its characterized as "cant be stopped" and "going nuts"?