MINNEAPOLIS — When Kirk Cousins and his family moved from Illinois to Michigan, his allegiance to the Bears was well-established.

Leaving Chicagoland, Cousins wondered aloud to his dad whether they’d be required to become fans of the Lions and the other Detroit-area teams.

“He said, ‘Kirk, you can take the boy out of Chicago. You can’t take Chicago out of the boy,’” Cousins recalled this week.

Loyal to the Bears they remained, but inside Michigan’s borders the Lions always received top TV billing. So Cousins moved through his teenage years and on to college at Michigan State with more than adequate coverage of the Lions, a clear familiarity that has only deepened now that Cousins has joined a different team in the NFC North in Minnesota.

The Vikings (4-3-1) will host the Lions (3-4) on Sunday, the first time Cousins, who’s second in the NFL with 2,521 passing yards, will face his home state’s squad as a division rival.