The NIU Huskies close out the 2017 regular season with a Black Friday match-up versus MAC West foe Central Michigan in Mount Pleasant; NIU can claim a share of the MAC West Division title with a win, and win it outright with a win and a Western Michigan victory over the Rockets
NIU will play in a bowl game for the ninth time in the last eight seasons and the first time since 2015. The Huskies have won at least eight games for the seventh time in the last eight years.
CMU has played the role of Huskie nemesis of late, with wins over NIU in each of the last three years, and four victories in the last six seasons dating back to 2011.
Defensive end Sutton Smith, one of 18 semifinalists for the Bednarik Award as the nation's top defender, put together a dominating performance versus Western Michigan with 2.5 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss and his second touchdown on a fumble recovery and return.
One week after breaking the NIU single season record for tackles for loss, Smith added the single season mark for quarterback sacks. His 27.5 tackles for loss (2.5/game) and 13 sacks (1.18/game) rank first and third in the FBS, respectively.
In his five seasons at the helm of the Huskie program, Head Coach Rod Carey has led NIU to a 32-7 regular season record versus MAC foes for an .820 winning percentage, and a 44-22 (.667) overall mark.
Senior tailback Jordan Huff ran for a career high 185 yards on 25 carries with two touchdowns to lead the Huskie offense versus WMU in weather made for rushing. For his career, Huff is averaging 6.58 yards/carry.
Senior safety Jackson Abresch became just the third player in FBS history - and the first since 1997 - to score two touchdowns on blocked punts in the same game versus Ball State. NIU has blocked four punts in 2017 and leads the FBS in that category.
