TOLEDO, Ohio – It’s over. It’s finally over.

For the first time since the first Bush was in office, the Huskies played Toledo, and … gasp … didn’t lose. They won. They actually won.

Wow, that felt good to say.

With one single victory, a Websters Dictionary’s worth of bad memories are all gone. In one night NIU suffered amnesia and had its entire slate wiped clean.

And as great as it was to watch it all unfold, like a good movie, the best part was the ending.

The NIU marching band counted down the final seconds, Sam Hurd climbed into the stands, Athletics Director Jim Phillips sought out and bear-hugged coach Joe Novak like he had to touch him to make sure everything was real.

The standing ovation in the press conference, the echoes of laughter, and more smiles than a beauty pageant all just blurred together into one moment of bliss.

Even as this article is being written it doesn’t feel real. Could it actually be? After everything this team has been through this season, could the Huskies really have a shot at the MAC title?

Yes, they actually do. And if NIU takes care of business Wednesday, the season down the drain has turned into the season everyone has been waiting for.

Yeah, I’ll be the first to admit I didn’t see this one coming. And if you say you did, you my friend, are a flat-out dirty liar.

But back to the game, since without it, this article wouldn’t be nearly as gleeful. In fact it would probably read more like an obituary.

Here lies NIU. They blew it again.

But what a game. Every time it looked like the Huskies would just hang themselves again, they took the noose away from their necks. Any time it looked like the Huskies were about to give up the big play, they made it instead.

With so many years of losing you just waited for NIU to slip up and blow it.

But instead of dying down the finish, NIU hit the afterburners and left the Rockets in the dust.

So celebrate, NIU. Rejoice with song and laughter or maybe lift that glass just a little bit higher. Your boys did what seemed impossible for so many years.

And I think NIU center Brian Van Acker said it best: “It’s about damn time.”