Huskie football fans, there are only two more home games left this season and they are both in the next two weeks. This Saturday is special because it is Homecoming.

Ticket sales for this game are on a similar pace from last year according to ticket manager Norm Jenkins. For last year’s Homecoming game the attendance was around 14,000.

“I would like to see the stadium packed every time,” head coach Charlie Sadler said. “That’s simply because, quite honestly, it gives a boost to the players that play here.”

This season the average attendance for the first two games has been 14,377. The last home game brought 14,852 people, which is 950 more than attended the first game against Arkansas State.

“Part of that is because people came out to our first game and saw that our football team is a fun team to watch,” Sadler said.

Not only is it Homecoming, but this game is a conference game vs. the University of the Pacific and it is important that NIU wins to stay in the race for the Las Vegas Bowl.

“We sure hope the students get out and be a part of the Homecoming spirit,” said Jenkins. “Student turnout is going to be critical to us.”

The attendance record for an NIU Homecoming game is 26,685, set Oct. 13, 1984, against Eastern Michigan. With a player like LeShon Johnson, and a team that has a 2-1 conference record with a shot at an automatic bowl bid, Huskie fans should come out and show their support.

“I’d like to see the biggest number we possibly can get,” Sadler said. “I want to see people getting into the game, being excited about big plays we make, getting wild when the opponent’s not driving and really showing their support for our players on the field.”

Pacific will be coming all the way from California; if the DeKalb weather isn’t enough to shake them up, a packed Huskie Stadium filled with excited NIU fans would certainly help. That Homecoming attendance record is not out of reach.