Mel Brooks may have said it best in Spaceballs: “Merchandising, merchandising.”

Prior to the 2003 football season, NIU merchandising was on the “not hot” fashion list – even for students.

“When we were losing, no one wore gear,” said former head coach Joe Novak.

And Novak wasn’t alone. Lee Blankenship, owner of the Village Commons Bookstore, had done his own informal study.

The owner would stand outside his bookstore and stare at Lucinda Avenue. As students walked by, he would keep count of who was wearing Huskie gear.

“It wasn’t a very high percentage,” Blankenship said. “But after that [2003] season, everything changed.”

Sales during the preseason were normal for both the VCB and the University Bookstore. But after the Alabama game, things suddenly changed.

Blankenship sold out of a years worth of NIU gear after the Huskies’ third win. He received orders from 49 states and foreign countries through his Web site; some which he could no longer fill.

Luckily, the VCB owner had a connection. Prior to the game against the SEC giant, Blankenship stopped by the Russell Athletic plant in Alexandria, Ala. The owner of the plant told the Illinois businessman that if he ever needed anything to give them a call.

“I told him I needed clothing now, and they got it up here fast,” the VCB owner said. “After we beat Alabama, the sales were unbelievable.”

It took a bit longer for sales to pick up at the University Bookstore, according to Don Turk, manager of the University Bookstore.

“It probably took till November for us to see any noticeable increase,” Turk said. “Once [NIU] got to 8-1 and looked like they had a bowl game, it spiked.”

Novak started to see the difference in support for his team. The coach not only saw students wearing shirts, hoodies and other gear – he started to see kids in the high schools where he was recruiting wearing NIU apparel.

“We started winning, and you started seeing it around campus – and then it was in the high schools,” Novak said. “There was a bundle of money being made because of the football team.”

Both Blankenship and Turk said sales have gone down since the 2003-2004 season. The VCB owner, however, said that his sales have been changed because of that year.

“You still go with how the season goes,” Blankenship said. “But the sales were definitely changed after the 2003 season.”