Former Missouri defensive coordinator Dave Steckel will return to Columbia as Missouri State’s head football coach in 2017.

On Wednesday, the Tigers and Bears announced a scheduled game for Sept. 2, 2017.

“It’s fun and exciting for us to get to play at Missouri in 2017,” Steckel said in a release, according to the Columbia Tribune. “Our alums have been asking for a game like this, and I’m really happy we were able to do this for them and for all the football fans in the state of Missouri.”

Mizzou still has one open slot on its 2017 schedule. The Tigers also are playing the Big Ten’s Purdue (Sept. 16, 2017) to fulfill its required game against a power-conference opponent and also will travel to Connecticut (Sept. 23, 2017) to complete a home-and-home that begins this fall.

Coach Gary Pinkel scheduled a rare road game against MAC opponent Toledo in 2014 — Pinkel is the school’s all-time wins leader — and also has a pair of home games scheduled against Southeast Missouri State in ’15 and ’19. SEMO athletic director Mark Alnutt played football for Mizzou in the ’90s and later worked as an athletic administrator for the school.

The Tigers still have two open non-conference spots in 2016 with games scheduled at West Virginia and vs. Eastern Michigan.