NIU suffered another heartbreaking loss. This time, the defeat came via Central Michigan.

And again, the Huskies’ defense didn’t show any signs of improvement against a below-average Chippewa offense.

Too many big plays led to the NIU defeat, as they gave up four touchdowns of 36 yards or more.

That’s unacceptable.

But it’s not time to hit the panic button just yet.

Despite the big loss in it’s MAC opener, the Huskies still have six conference games remaining until the end of the 2011 season.

The next two weeks will be critical, as the Huskies have their next two home games at Huskie Stadium,

Kent State will roll into DeKalb this weekend. While the Golden Flashes reside in the MAC East, a win over the Golden Flashes could give NIU that spark to finish off conference play.

After Kent State, Western Michigan will venture to Huskie Stadium for NIU’s homecoming game.

These next two games can set the tempo for the rest of the season, and if they can execute, the Huskies can still make a run at the MAC Championship game in Detroit.

But it has to start now.

NIU can’t afford to lose any more conference games.

And if they don’t find a way to recover, the Huskies won’t have that chance to redeem themselves from last season’s tough loss against Miami (Ohio) in the MAC Championship.

This is where the Huskies’ leaders have to rise and pull their team from out of this funk.

Defensive players like Pat Schiller, Jordan Delegal and Sean Progar have to keep the intensity going through the games as they do through their practices.

It’s all about execution on the defense’s part, and it can’t continue to give up 500-plus yard games and allow more than 40 points.

Offensively, the senior-led offense continues to put up some decent numbers on the stat sheet.

The sluggish starts have to stop.

The offense has to get that swagger going to maintain momentum throughout the course of the ball game.

If the offense scores points, the defense builds off of that and the tone of the game is taken from there.

NIU is in trouble right now, but there’s still reason to have faith.

With the veteran leadership of the players and the experienced coaching staff, the Huskies can still win-out and make it back to that championship game in Detroit.