One of the most popular questions on campus these days seems to be one that includes the words “NIU football team” and “bowl”.

Does NIU have a legitimate shot at playing in the postseason? Nobody can really be sure until the bowl pairings are announced. My advice to the NIU campus would be to ask a different question, such as: Isn’t it fun mentioning “NIU” and “bid” in the same sentence?

This Saturday will be the first taste of “big-time” football the Huskies have enjoyed in about the past five years—excluding, of course, games against “big-time” teams like Miami and Nebraska. Saturday’s game is being hyped as a kind of a “loser-stops-dreaming” matchup.

In other words, both teams still have outside shots at bowl bids going into the game. The winner keeps the dream alive. The loser wakes up.

Southwestern Louisiana coach Nelson Stokley and NIU coach Jerry Pettibone will stand on opposite sidelines, but will still be very much in the same position. Both have to win Saturday and the following two weeks before they even think about Brent Musburger mentioning their teams with the likes of the Independence or Liberty Bowls.

USL, thanks to a win over a tough Southern Mississippi team in its last game, carries a 5-3 record into Huskie Stadium. NIU, meanwhile, has posted a 6-2 mark. Despite the difference in records, the squads are on about equal ground in terms of bowl aspirations.

The fact that USL has played well against a rugged schedule is a plus for the Ragin‘ Cajuns. Because of its less strenuous schedule, NIU’s biggest positive would be its record if it were to finish 9-2. After all, bowl representatives will not highly regard the records of the teams the Huskies have beaten (NIU’s six victims have a cumulative record of 13-35-1).

For that reason, Pettibone knows Saturday’s game is a must if the Huskies plan to practice in December. “It really boils down to this Saturday,” he says. “We truly have a great football team coming in here, and we need to go out and win that game.”

The same goes for Stokley, who says, “It depends on what we do from here on out, naturally. We’re not going to go with a 7-4, we’re going to have to be 8-3, and that’s one of the things we’ve got to play for.”

Both teams have one of the ingredients needed for a bowl berth—a marketable, standout player. USL has quarterback Brian Mitchell, whom Stokley calls “the best quarterback in the country”, while NIU boasts the top rushing QB in the nation in Stacey Robinson.

Last year, both teams were in the same situation. NIU won its first three games and entertained thoughts of a 10-1 or 11-0 season. USL, meanwhile, was 6-2 with three games left and ready to make hotel reservations. However, both quickly came down to earth. The Huskies went 4-4 in their last eight games and the Cajuns lost their last three contests.

Does either team have a chance to get a bowl bid this year? Right now, it really doesn’t matter. What matters is that a flashy USL team is coming to town to take on the Huskies in the biggest NIU game since the 1983 California Bowl.

But if you ask the preceding question again on Sunday morning, one team will be able to answer with certainty—and the answer will be “no”.