DeKALB | Victor E. Huskie is getting a makeover for the 2010 season.

After eight years with his current look, Victor is hitting the weights and becoming what Ryan Harris, assistant director of sales at NIU, describes as, “more fierce, more muscular, yet still kid friendly.”

To do that, not only was a new costume ordered, but new students were given the chance to step inside the suit. NIU held tryouts to be Victor E. on Wednesday and Thursday.

Harris said the school was looking for students with the right energy and presence to fill the mascot rotation.

“We wanted students with energy and enthusiasm that could entertain the crowd and do the things that mascots do,” Harris said.

In most years NIU has five different students rotating through the costume and with only one Victor E. returning from last year, tryouts were prompted.

Harris said the athletic department sent out an e-mail informing students of the tryout dates, adding that the response to tryouts was very good.

Seven students showed up last week for the volunteer position, including Rob Zimmer, a junior finance major.

Zimmer was his high school mascot, a polar bear, at St. Charles North and was also Roscoe Raider at the Milwaukee School of Engineering.

“I’ve done it before and wanted to keep doing it,” Zimmer said. “I just be myself. I’m goofy all the time.”

Yanelly Villegas, a sophomore undecided major, also took her best moves to the tryouts.

Unlike Zimmer, she has never been a mascot but still landed in the rotation for Victor E.

“I think its a great way to get involved with your school,” she said. “Its a big part of the school and not a lot of people can say they were the mascot.”

The current Victor E. Huskie look was introduced in 2002 and the wear and tear on the uniform has led to a new look. He attends all home football, select away games and all home men’s and women’s basketball games, along with appearances at volleyball games and other events.

The new-look Victor E. will be introduced on Saturday, Sept. 11 at the first home football game versus North Dakota. Game time is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Huskie Stadium.