Honors
- MSU Athletic Director's Honor Roll (Spring 2020, Fall 2020)
2022
Rugged defender missed a majority of the 2022 season with an injury ... Played in just 2 games ... Had 3 total stops in season opener at UCA (9/1/22) with 2 solo tackles and a career-high 2 QB sacks in his 14th career start ... First of two sacks at UCA came on a key third-and-11 play in the third quarter ... Also had 3 stops, a tackle for loss and a QB hurry in home opener vs. UT Martin (9/8/22) before suffering season-ending injury.
2021
Played in 10 games in 2021 in his third season with the Bears ... Brought down 19 ball carriers with 4 solo stops and 2.0 tackles for loss ... Posted season-high 5 stops with 1.5 tackles for loss and a QB hurry at Youngstown State (10/9/21) ... Logged a half-sack in win at Illinois State (10/2/22) with a pair of tackles ... Registered season-best 3 solo tackles in win at Dixie State (11/20/21).
2020-21
Played in all 10 games his junior season and finished with 18 total stops ... Had season-best 4 tackles at No. 11-ranked Central Arkansas (9/26/20) ... Logged 3 stops, including 0.5 sacks and 1.5 tackles for loss in homecoming rematch vs. UCA (10/17/20) ... Also had multiple tackles, including tackles for loss, vs. North Dakota State (3/6/21) and at UNI (3/20/21) ... Had a solo tackle in 9-of-10 appearances on the season ... Named to MSU Athletic Director's Honor Roll for Fall 2020 semester.
2019
Played in all 11 games in his first season with the Bears, earning 3 starts at left defensive end in the first 3 games ... Had 2 tackles with a stop for loss in MSU debut at Northern Arizona (8/29/19) ... Posted 3 tackles the following game at Tulane (9/14/19) with a solo stop ... Recorded a tackle for loss vs. South Dakota (10/12/19) ... Credited with a solo stop and QB hurry at Southern Illinois (11/9/19) ... Brought down season-high 4 ball carriers at No. 7 Illinois State (11/16/19) with a solo tackle ... Capped sophomore campaign with 3 assisted tackles in finale vs. Indiana State (11/23/19) at home ... Earned MSU Athletic Director's Honor Roll distinction for the Spring 2020 semester.
Kansas State
Played the 2017 and 2018 seasons for coach Bill Snyder at Big XII Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kan. ... Played vs. UTSA (9/15/18) in his only appearance in 2018 ... Redshirted in 2017.
High School
Standout for Raymore-Peculiar (Mo.) High under head coach Tom Kruse ...  Recorded 80 tackles, 13.0 tackles for loss, 8 sacks and forced 3 fumbles as a senior in 2016 ... Was the top high school recruit out of Missouri and nation’s 13th-best strong-side DE in 2017 by 247Sports ... Also rated the 53rd-best overall defensive end by ESPN... A two-time first team all-state and all-district performer, he was also named to the USA TODAY Sports/American Family Insurance All-USA Missouri team ... Selected to play in the Blue-Gray All-American Bowl ... Earned all-metro honors from the Kansas City Star as a senior ... A member of the 2016 All-Simone Team and Buck Buchanan Memorial Award finalist as one of the top players in the Kansas City metro area ... Posted 61 tackles, 12.0 TFLs and 4.0 sacks as a junior at Ray-Pec.
Personal
Nicholas Anthony Payne Jr. was born 11/12/98 in Kansas City, Mo. ... Son of Nick and Jennifer Payne of Kansas City ... Has a sister, Olivia ... Majoring in Psychology.
