A short turnaround for the football team has it back in action for a weeknight home game Thursday against the Eastern Michigan University Eagles.

The Huskies (5-2, 3-0 Mid-American Conference) will look to stay undefeated in conference play with a game against the 2-5 Eagles.

“Eastern Michigan is a good football team,” Head Coach Rod Carey said. “They’re well-coached [and are] good in all three phases. I know they are sitting there at 2-5, but I think they could easily be 7-0. We are going to have our hands full on the short week.”

The Huskies only have four days between games, dating back to their 48-7 lopsided win Saturday over the Bowling Green State University Falcons.

The starters for NIU were able to get some rest in garbage time Saturday with the end result never being in doubt.

Carey said the turnaround is harder for the players than it is for the coaching staff, given the quick recovery from the previous game.

“The players have to do two things simultaneously, usually today is the day they are starting to feel good and preparing for a Saturday,” Carey said. “You [need to] get all the bumps and bruises worked out, [and] we really challenged them to get going on bumps and bruises earlier and eating, hydration, the rest, and recovery needed to be like a Thursday today.”

The Huskies are coming off a breakout game from the offense and redshirt freshman quarterback Marcus Childers, who had three touchdowns and 312 yards of total offense, including 239 passing yards and 73 rushing yards on 19 carries.

Ryan Roberts, redshirt sophomore offensive lineman, said there is not a difference in playing with, arguably, a rushing quarterback like Childers.

“We prepare for every game the same way,” Roberts said. “Every game has a different gameplan, but as an offensive line, we prepare for any situation. We’ve had multiple quarterbacks this year, and it’s always been a next man up [mentality].”

The Huskies will look for senior kicker Christian Hagan to continue from where he left off last week. Hagan completed all four of his points after attempts and coverted a 29 and 32 yard field goal Saturday, earning him MAC player of the week honors.

Carey said the key for Hagan will be not getting caught up in good play and maintaining consistency going forward.

“Sometimes how you handle success is just as important as how you handle adversity,” Carey said. “I think we have to see now how he handles success.”

On the defensive side of the football, the Huskies will look to continue their dominance. NIU ranks 12th in total defense and second in tackles for a loss, according to the NCAA’s official website.

“Our first thing with takeaways is we always want to get three a game,” redshirt junior linebacker Jawuan Johnson said. “With takeaways, you just have to get the ball and give our offense the opportunities to score. We didn’t stop the run like we wanted to [against Bowling Green], but our takeaways made the game.”

The weeknight game against the Eagles will kick off 6 p.m. Thursday at Huskie Stadium.