DeKALB – When NIU football walked off Brigham Field at Huskie Stadium after being knocked off its No. 23 pedestal by the University at Buffalo, it left a bitter taste within the program. After all, the 23-20 overtime loss was only the third time NIU had fallen to its easternmost Mid-American Conference rival since 1968. 

Since then, head coach Thomas Hammock said his Huskies have been itching to erase the bitterness of that defeat.

“(When) you don’t play as well as you can play, you’re just anxious to play the next game to get that taste out of your mouth,” Hammock said.

The Huskies (2-1, 0-1 MAC) will attempt to do just that Saturday when they face Atlantic Coast Conference foe North Carolina State University (2-2, 0-1 ACC) at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, North Carolina. There, NIU will look to earn its 20th Boneyard Win – and its second of the season after upsetting then-No. 5 University of Notre Dame on Sept. 7.

Saturday will be NIU’s second-ever meeting with NC State. The teams first met on Sept. 20, 1997, in Raleigh, where the Wolfpack routed the Huskies 41-14. But it’ll be the first time the Huskies will face off against the man who led them to glory over a decade ago.

HELLO, OLD FRIEND

Former NIU head coach Dave Doeren will roam the opposing sideline Saturday as the 12th-year head coach of the Wolfpack. In two seasons at NIU, Doeren guided the Huskies to back-to-back MAC championships and a berth to the 2013 Orange Bowl. However, Doeren never coached in that bowl game, as he had accepted the job at NC State a month before the game.

Nearly 12 years after the fact, Hammock said Doeren’s history at NIU will have little sway on the current iteration of the Huskies come gameday.

“Obviously, he took the program to great heights,” Hammock said of Doeren. “We acknowledge that and appreciate everything he’s done for the program, but that has no bearing or outcome or anything to do with the game that’s going to be played on Saturday.”

RAINY IN RALEIGH

In addition to grappling with a Power Four opponent, NIU may also have to battle the elements brought about by a hurricane barreling toward the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Hurricane Helene is forecast to intensify into a major hurricane – Category 3 or higher – before making landfall Thursday in Florida’s panhandle. Though the Raleigh-Durham area isn’t in Helene’s direct path, 1 to 3 inches of rain are possible on Saturday.

In preparation for the potential weather in Raleigh, Hammock said the team worked well in the rainy conditions during Tuesday morning’s practice.

“It was raining hard, so we were out there, and we got a lot of great wet-ball work this morning,” Hammock said Tuesday. “Guys understand what they need to do, how they need to attack.”

BOUNCING BACK

Redshirt junior quarterback Ethan Hampton comes off his weakest performance of the season. Hampton, who entered Saturday with the highest passer efficiency rating in the country, went 23-of-43 passing for 194 yards and tossed a game-changing interception.

Despite a poor outing, senior wide receiver Andrew McElroy said Hampton hasn’t lost a step in his command of the offense.

“I’ve seen the same leadership that he’s always had,” McElroy said. “Being able to build chemistry between the entire offense and being able to stay a leader, staying positive and making sure that everyone is level-headed and ready for this upcoming week.”

With NIU set to take on its second Power Four opponent this month, it’s another chance for players like senior defensive tackle Cade Haberman – who weren’t highly-rated recruits coming out of high school –  to show higher-profile programs the talent they missed out on.

“A lot of us feel like we were overlooked in our recruiting process or not given a fair shot,” Haberman said. “And NIU’s the place that gave us our opportunity, so we just love taking advantage of these types of games.”

But the Huskies’ biggest focus is on tuning out the outside expectations and playing to its own standard of football.

“These are big games, I get it,” said senior defensive back Jashon Prophete. “But the focal point is not based off us being Top 25 or not. It’s based off what we can control, playing our brand of football. We all know what that looks like. That’s what we’re really chasing.”