Northern Illinois and Illinois will meet on the gridiron for just the fourth time as the schools will play a single game at Memorial Stadium on Sept. 18, 2010, Huskie Associate Vice President and Director of Athletics Jeff Compher announced Wednesday.

The game will be the first between the two in-state schools since 2001 with Illinois holding a 3-0 lead in the all-time series. Illinois won the 2001 game by a 17-12 margin on the strength of two fourth-quarter touchdowns. The previous meetings were in 1992 and 1994.

“Illinois is a great opponent for our team and we expect this game to generate a lot of interest among our fans across the state,” Compher said. “We continue to strive to fill our non-conference schedule with quality opponents, and when you can play a state school like Illinois, there is certainly a benefit to that.”

The Illinois game continues the Huskies’ commitment to scheduling in-state foes as well as Big Ten opponents. Northern Illinois will play Western Illinois at Huskie Stadium in 2009 and will play host to Big Ten foe Wisconsin on Sept. 17, 2011 at Soldier Field in Chicago. The Huskies open the 2009 season at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison and will also play at Purdue next year.