NIU football players have enjoyed time off since their victory over Troy, but team meetings will begin this week and training starts next Monday.

“Right now, we just train on our own,” receiver Sam Hurd said. “Some of us get together and go to the Rec. It’s more convenient when you can just lift on your own and at your own pace. I like working out at the Rec anyway.”

Since the team worked out for an extra month due to the bowl game, it will only have eight winter conditioning days compared to last year’s 16.

Despite team and individual success, NIU running back Garrett Wolfe said his training outlook will not be different than last year.

“I’ve always worked hard since I’ve got here,” Wolfe said. “Everybody here works hard, regardless of their rank on the depth chart. Everybody fights hard.”

Mr. Smith goes to Miami

Miami-Ohio coach Shane Montgomery announced Friday that he has hired NIU running backs coach DeAndre Smith to coach running backs and serve as running game coordinator.

Smith arrived at NIU in Feb. 2001 and coached an All-MAC running back in each of his four years.

“I was very close to him,” Wolfe said. “I don’t think anybody believed that I would get back on the football field. He always believed that I would make it and it hurts to see him go.”

NIU starts 2005 at the “Big House”

The Huskies will begin their 2005 season at ESPN.com’s preseason No. 3 pick: Michigan.

NIU will play in Ann Arbor Sept. 3 at the “Big House,” which holds 107,501 fans.

“What more can you ask for?” Wolfe said. “Maryland and Alabama were top 25 teams, now we’re working on the top five teams.”

After traveling to Michigan, NIU will play another Big Ten opponent in Northwestern on Sept. 10 as its second non-conference game.

The men’s basketball team will play at Michigan in 2006-07.

Wolfe on top 25 list

Collegefootballnews.com predicts Wolfe will run for a “bazillion yards” next season.

Editor Pete Fiutak picked Wolfe as the No. 21 returnee for Division I-A football.

MAC quarterbacks Omar Jacobs from Bowling Green and Bruce Gradkowski from Toledo were picked No. 10 and No. 19, respectively.

“It’s exciting and very flattering,” Wolfe said, “but it’s because of the things that I’ve been fortunate enough to accomplish. It’s great for me, but it’s better for the university.”

Novak still busy

Serving as an assistant coach for the East team in Saturday’s Hula Bowl in Hawaii, NIU football coach Joe Novak watched his squad pick up a 20-13 victory.

Huskie wide receiver Dan Sheldon was invited to play in the post season all-star game, but could not due to a left collarbone fracture he suffered during the Silicon Valley Classic.

On Jan. 11, Novak was one of four head football coaches named to the American Football Coaches Association Board of Trustees.

According to the AFCA constitution, the organization was formed to “maintain the highest possible standards in football and the coaching profession.”

“It’s a tremendous honor,” Novak said in a press release. “I’m surprised and I’m thrilled to be voted on our board by the head coaches.”

Novak said the position would be key in discussing 12th-game and fifth-year eligibility rules.

Huskies ranked again

For the second-straight year, NIU received a top-30 ranking to end the regular season.

The 9-3 Huskies were ranked No. 29 in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. NIU was ranked No. 26 in the Coaches Poll last season and No. 29 in the AP ranking after its 10-2 season.

“One of our goals has been consistency,” Novak said “Being ranked in the top 30 the last two years, to me, is consistent with that goal.”

NIU finished behind No. 27 Bowling Green and ahead of No. 34 Iowa State and No. 38 Toledo in the coaches’ selections.