Sept. 5, 2009 will mark the second time in three years that the NIU football team will travel to Wisconsin to take on the Badgers. NIU will travel to two Big Ten schools (Wisconsin and Purdue) during the 2009 season and will host non-conference opponents of Western Illinois and Idaho.

“We all know the last time we played Wisconsin things didn’t go so well, so hopefully that will motivate our guys more to get ready for the opener,” said NIU head coach Jerry Kill. “The one advantage for our fans in playing these two Big Ten schools is that our fans have a chance to drive to both games. When we go into venues like these, we will need all the support we can get.”

The Huskies will also host a pair of ESPNU games on Nov. 5 versus Eastern Michigan and Nov. 12 versus Ball State. Other home games for NIU include MAC opponents Western Michigan for Homecoming and Akron on Oct. 31.

“I like our home schedule,” Kill said. “Our fans will be able to see us early in the season at home, and we’ve got the three straight home games at the back half.”

NIU will close out the 2009 regular season on ESPNU at Central Michigan on Nov. 27.

“Our ESPN home games this year are on Thursday night and will once again provide great exposure for our team and our university to a nationwide audience,” said NIU athletic director Jeff Compher. “We proved last year with the Navy game that Huskie fans will support weeknight games and the play of our team, along with the game-day atmosphere at Huskie Stadium, makes NIU one of the most attractive teams in the MAC for ESPN.”

NIU Media Relations contributed to this article.