When the final seconds tick off the third-quarter clock, football players hold up four fingers to signify the start of the fourth quarter.

It’s a way of getting each other pumped up to finish off the game and realize that there is still one quarter of football to be played.

Saturday night against Southern Illinois, none of that was to be seen on the NIU sideline.

Heading into the fourth quarter, the Huskies were up 31-14 and seemingly on the way to a blowout victory.

Then it happened.

With 10:30 left on the clock, SIU made the game interesting with a second interception return for a touchdown.

Still, all was well.

NIU was up 31-21 and in control of the game. Then there was a real sigh of relief when SIU’s Larry Warner fumbled the ball and NIU recovered at the SIU 38-yard line with 7:28 left.

But not so fast.

With NIU looking to solidify its victory by going for it on fourth-and-1 at the SIU 16-yard line, running back Justin Anderson fumbled to give the ball back to SIU.

Southern was still down by 10 and needed to score twice. Plus, SIU had to drive 84 yards with only 4:06 left.

NIU was still looking good.

Two fourth-down conversions and three minutes and five seconds later, SIU was only down by three after a couple tipped passes happened to land in the hands of SIU receivers.

“To be honest, it is a little deflating at times when they make plays like that,” said NIU defensive end Larry English in response to SIU’s tipped ball catches. “They made plays and you’ve got to give them credit.”

The SIU section in the stands went crazy, and the Salukis had seized the momentum from NIU.

A perfect onside kick by SIU kicker Kyle Dougherty gave the ball back to SIU with 58 seconds left at its own 43-yard line.

After converting on their third fourth-down conversion inside of four minutes left in the game, NIU had the wind knocked out of them.

The very next play after conversion, SIU’s Nick Hill connected with Justin Allen for a 30-yard touchdown pass down the right sideline. Hill and Allen gave the Salukis the lead and the game. The impossible had happened and NIU head coach Joe Novak was almost at a loss for words.

“We just didn’t finish it off,” Novak said. “It’s too bad because we had the game under control. We let it get away and we’ll learn from it.”