Each of the five years Chandler Harnish spent at NIU has its own story.

From being redshirted his freshman year, to suffering a severe knee injury his sophomore year, Harnish’s first two years were experience of their own.

At the start of the 2010-11 season, Harnish wasn’t the opening game starter at quarterback. Yet that wouldn’t last long, as he was put in the starting role after the Huskies’ week one loss to Iowa State.

And then there was Harnish’s senior year.

“It was definitely a year I’ll never forget,” Harnish said.

The Vern Smith Leadership Award recipient earned the Northern Star’s No. 1 spot as its top NIU athlete of ’11-’12. The Smith award is given to the MAC MVP.

For a player who set 30 NIU passing, rushing and total offense records in fours years as a starter, Harnish couldn’t neglect the people who helped put him in a position to succeed.

“Nothing could have been accomplished if it wasn’t for my teammates and my coaches,” Harnish said. “It was just so much fun.”

Harnish recalled how the start of his senior season, like that for the rest of the NIU football team, started off rough. The Huskies posted a 2-3 record in their first five games.

Yet under the guidance of Harnish, NIU reeled off nine straight wins, the last two victories coming in the MAC Championship and the GoDaddy.com Bowl game.