NIU fans anxious for football and tired of being force-fed facts, figures and quotes from the Huskies, take heed; NIU’s season opener is almost here.

But first, here’s some more facts, figures and quotes on the upcoming game.

Game day: Saturday. Game place: Bulldog Stadium, Fresno, Calif. Game time: 9 p.m. And the opponent is the Fresno State Bulldogs.

“We’re sick of hitting each other,” NIU fullback Adam Dach said.

“I’m excited,” junior free safety Jeff Taylor said. “It’s my first year starting, so I’m really excited.”

“I think everybody is going to be pumped up for the game,” linebacker Nick Jones said. “It’ll be no problem getting pumped up. They (FSU) are going to use last year as motivation.”

Jones is alluding to NIU’s thorough conquest of the Bulldogs last October, 73-18. That game’s statistics have been rehashed so often that they have become hackneyed. They are sure to still be fresh in FSU’s memory bank come kickoff.

“We know we’re going to be in for a fight,” NIU linebacker Steve Christian said. “We’ll be ready.”

Dach said he and his teammates have had about 50 practices heading into Saturday.

“As we’ve gotten closer to the game, (NIU head coach Charlie Sadler) has been letting up,” Taylor said.

Sadler has let up because his team has reviewed all the films, practiced all the techniques and ran all the plays it can stomach.

“I think our team is where we want it to be,” Sadler said. “Whether we’re where we need to be, we’ll find out Saturday. To go into the first game and say we’re where we need to be, I don’t know.”

Sadler has installed a new offense called the “Multiple-I.” It allows the quarterback more passes than the Huskies’ previous offense, the Wishbone. But don’t expect NIU to lead the nation in passing yards.

“We’ll still be a running offense,” Sadler said. “For us to have success, the running game will have to be a large part of our offense, but we have more flexibility to throw the ball.”

Throwing the ball will be junior quarterback Stacey McKinney. A transfer from Taft College in Calif., McKinney won the QB spot over Rob Rugai because of his fast feet.

“(Rugai) just doesn’t have the speed that Stacey does,” Sadler said.

Sadler wants his team to grab an early lead to force the Bulldogs into making offensive changes.

“The thing about Fresno,” Sadler said, “is they have a balanced offense. They can run and pass. Hopefully, they don’t keep us off balance. Hopefully, we can get them to be in a passing mode.”

Sadler will try to stay in a relaxed mode despite Saturday’s game being his first as a head coach. He said his jitters should disappear once the game starts. His team, though, already appears free of fear.

“I heard they have a nice stadium and a good team,” Dach said. “It’s always nice to play a good team.”