SHREVEPORT, La. | To produce a Huskie victory Sunday in the Independence Bowl, NIU head coach Jerry Kill said he needs some of his players to get to the next level.

“We need someone to step up,” Kill said. “We need someone to become a player-maker.”

At the same time, the first year coach is planning to take Louisiana Tech’s player-makers out of the game.

One of these athletes, which Kill has planed around, is Bulldogs’ wide receiver Phillip Livas.

The sophomore leads his team with 589 reception yards and has two receiving touchdowns.

His receiving yards account for 31.2 percent of all reception yards for the Bulldogs this season.

If you combined the production for the next three top receivers, Livas has more yards than this group; when totaled, these three combined for only 570 yards.

Although he’s only caught 39 passes this season, a team high, he’s made them count. On average, the wide receiver is gaining 15.1 yards per catch.

While the sophomore has proved to be a dangerous weapon as a wide receiver, it may be the most insignificant part of his three-pronged attack.

Livas is the No. 5 punt returner in the nation. On average, he returns a fourth down boot for 16.6 yards. Occasionally, Livas has exceeded this average, as he’s broke free and ran into the end zone twice this season.

His longest return was an 81-yard run, which resulted in six points.

Kill sees the Bulldogs’ punt return threat as similar to that of the Chicago Bears’ Devin Hester.

Because of this, the NIU head coach has come up with a simple plan to take the ball out of his hand.

“Kick it out of bounds,” Kill said. “We don’t want to kick it to him.”

But even if Livas is taken out of the punt return game, he may still affect the contest in another way.

The sophomore is the third leading rusher on the team, having rushed for 327 yards this year on 27 carries. He leads the Bulldogs with an average of 11.9 yards per carry.

Just like punt returners, Livas has the possibility of always breaking out on a big run. The wide receiver has two rushing touchdowns this season, and his longest rush of the year was for 78 yards – the longest rush by any Bulldog during the 2008 season.