As the NIU football team prepares for Saturday’s Parents’ Day meeting with Southwest Missouri State, coach Jerry Pettibone is trying to keep his team from experiencing an emotional letdown.

After the Huskies gained national exposure with the school’s first-ever win over a Big Ten school two weeks ago at Wisconsin, Pettibone and his assistants were worried about the team’s attitude going into last week’s trip to Minnesota.

And while the Huskies had no trouble getting fired up for their second straight Big Ten foe—as they led throughout most of the game before losing 31-20—this week, NIU will try to respond after a tough loss.

No big deal, right? Maybe not.

But for a 3-1 Huskie team off to its best start since 1983, playing Division I-AA Southwest Missouri State after two games in huge Big Ten arenas might not seem too big of a deal either. Pettibone said neither the coaching staff or the players can accept a 3-1 record.

“I would not have been satisfied (before the season) with a 3-1 start,” Pettibone said. “I knew we were a much improved team (5-5-1 last year) and with the way that our team came out of the spring practices, I thought we had a good chance to be 4-0 at this point.

“I have been pleased with the way we have played. At Minnesota, even though we lost, we played well enough to win. It was really good to see how much it hurt our players to lose. It shows how much they’re committed to winning. Now, we (the coaches) have to continue to challenge the players to strive for only the best.”

After the win at Wisconsin, NIU got some air time on national television when CBS‘ Brent Musberger congratulated the football program on its first win against a Big Ten opponent. NIU had gone 17 seasons with an 0-12-1 record versus Big Ten teams.

The win at Wisconsin may take on added importance later in the season, as some publications picked the Huskies as a bowl contender only if they beat a Big 10 team.

While all the Huskies’ pre-season media attention centered on its wishbone offense and the health of senior quarterback Marshall Taylor (who suffered a broken ankle in the season finale last year), the NIU defense has been the team’s most consistent unit, and has allowed the Huskies room for error when the offense has failed.

Led by the play of linebackers Ron Delisi (59 tackles), Mike Higgins (57), Mike Hollingshed (36) and Mike Manson (23) and linemen Ted Hennings (33, 2 sacks) and Phil Foley (32, 5 sacks), the defense held down opponents when the offense sputtered in wins over Akron and Middle Tennessee State.