Kneeling on the turf with a broken left arm, NIU junior quarterback Phil Horvath yelled to his sideline to fire up his teammates.

After his team surrendered a fourth-quarter touchdown, even-keeled NIU coach Joe Novak hunted down a referee and gave him an earful about a missed call.

Even outspoken senior wide receiver Sam Hurd was jawing with opposing fans during pregame stretches.

Coming off an embarrassing home loss last week to Ball State, the Huskies played with intensity and kept their postseason hopes alive with a 31-28 victory at Central Michigan on Saturday.

“It’s good to know you have another week, and that next week means something,” Novak said. “It’s in our own hands, so that’s a great feeling.”

NIU’s traditional run-first mentality was nowhere to be seen from the game’s onset as an aerial attack opened the game with a 66-yard scoring drive. Hurd found his way into the end zone on the receiving end of a 27-yard Horvath pass to give the Huskies (5-4 overall, 4-2 MAC) a 7-0 lead.

But CMU senior quarterback Kent Smith and the Chippewas (5-4, 4-2) struck back with a 95-yard drive to tie the game 7-7 near the end of the first quarter. From there, it was a back-and-forth struggle for momentum the rest of the game.

The NIU run game that was averaging more than 200 yards per game on the year was held to a season-low six yards on 22 carries. But the passing game made up for the drop-off with 425 total yards passing, highlighted by three touchdowns and a school-record 266 yards from Hurd.

After completing 12 of 16 passes, Horvath had his left arm broken by CMU linebacker Isaac Brown with about two minutes remaining in the first quarter. Redshirt freshman Dan Nicholson stepped in for Horvath and looked sharp and poised in the pocket, compiling 320 passing yards and three total touchdowns.

“It’s upsetting,” Horvath said about his season-ending injury. “But that happens in football. [Nicholson] prepared great. Coach told him all year, you never know when your shot is going to be. We went in there and played a great game and I’m really proud of him.”

Despite Nicholson’s clutch performance, the NIU defense was exposed by CMU’s spread offense. Smith threw for 382 yards and four touchdowns as the Chippewas had 588 yards of total offense. For the second consecutive week, the NIU defense also allowed its opponent to convert over 50 percent of their third-down conversions.

But redshirt freshman defensive end Craig Rusch held the defensive unit together, with two key sacks and a forced fumble to stall the CMU drives when it counted.

The Chippewas attempted a 39-yard field goal with one minute remaining in an attempt to send the game into overtime. But the kick was wide left and the Huskies ran out the clock to secure the win.

“It’s by far the most important game I’ve ever played in my life,” Nicholson said. “I have all the confidence in the world in this offense. I knew the receivers would be open and the offensive line would give me just enough time. It makes the job a lot easier on me.”