Football will face a tough challenge when it travels to take on Central Michigan at 2 p.m. Saturday in Mount Pleasant, Mich.

The No. 23 Huskies (6-0, 2-0 MAC) will look to extend their nation-leading conference winning streak to 20 and increase their road winning streak to 13 games.

Historically, the matchup between the Huskies and Chippewas (3-4, 2-1 MAC) is always a tough, physical battle, as the Chippewas were the last team to hand the Huskies a conference loss. The Chippewas defeated the Huskies 48-41 Oct. 1, 2011, in Mount Pleasant.

“I have a ton of respect for them and their program,” said coach Rod Carey in a news conference. “Obviously, they have some great tradition there and it’s always a tough game between us and them. I think historically they have always been real good games. It’s going to be a physical game. I think that coach [Dan Enos] has them molded and put in the way he wants them now, which is physical on both sides of the ball and real sound in the kicking game.”

The Chippewas are coming into this game playing some of their best football of the season, winning their last two games over MAC opponents Miami (OH) and Ohio. In the game against Ohio, the key for the Chippewas was takeaways, as they recorded two interceptions and two fumble recoveries.

Even though the Huskies are coming off a 27-20 win over Akron, they are looking to bounce back on the offensive side of the ball after going 1-15 on third down.

“I’m sure we’ll work a little bit,” said quarterback Jordan Lynch in a news conference. “We’ll probably do some extra stuff this week, but we’re not going to do anything out of the ordinary. We’re going to keep doing what we do and I’ll make those throws. I usually make those throws, and I just missed them.”

The Huskies know how hard is it to go on the road in the MAC and get a win, so they will need to be focused and pay attention to the details.

“They’re going to challenge you,” Carey said in a news conference. “Maybe not so much from no huddle or things of that nature, but they’re going to challenge you from a technical standpoint and a fundamental standpoint play after play after play. If you’re not fundamentally sound on both sides of the ball, you’re going to go ahead and be in a real tussle with a real good football team.”