Somewhere in Joe Novak’s office has to be a dart board with all the linebackers’ names on it.

Or maybe he goes the magic eight-ball route.

All I know is lately it’s been a coin toss at best to see who starts at linebacker each week.

Last week it was the trio of Phil Brown, Keenan Blalark, and Tim McCarthy. The week before it was Brown, Blalark, and Josh Allen. And guess what? There’s another switch this week as Jason Hutton and Allen regain starting roles along with Blalark.

Talk about job security. These boys don’t know if they’re going to be starters, subs or water boys each week.

It’s almost like Novak is picking starters’ names out of a hat.

This is crazy. How are you supposed to instill confidence in a player or a unit?

But you want to know the craziest part? I mean, besides the fact that it seems like Ms. Cleo is choosing the NIU linebacking corps from week to week.

The craziest part is that it’s working.

Novak and his defensive coaches, with or without the help of Ms. Cleo, have been making all the right calls and putting the right players on the field.

Before Novak started shaking up the lineup, NIU’s defense had been giving up an average of more than 419 yards per game.

And no game was worse than against Akron, when the Huskie offense put up 536 yards but outgained Akron by just 11 yards.

It was that game that prompted Novak and company to start the carousel that is NIU’s linebacking corps.

Two wins later, Novak’s craziness is looking more like genius. I guess that’s why he’s the head coach.

The improved play at linebacker has cut down the last two opponents’ yards per game to 237. That’s almost half of what it was before. And the new corps had almost 38 percent of the tackles against EMU.

Who are those guys? I’d like to think they aren’t the same guys who have been bashed by every Huskie fan throughout this season, but they are.

The linebackers went to bed one night and woke up as the New England Patriots; many guys, no stars, just production.

And maybe the best part; they’re only going to get better. The lone senior in the group is Hutton, while Allen and Brown are true freshmen. Blalark has stepped up and become the leader of the squad and next year they get First Team All-MAC player Javan Lee back, assuming he gets a medical redshirt.

The defensive coaches have to be sleeping better. They’ve gone from scapegoats to lottery winners in a six-game span.

It looks like NIU hit the jackpot with linebackers who three weeks ago looked like flops. And better yet, Novak’s revolving door theory has NIU back on the road to Detroit.