California, here we come.

The NIU football team learned Sunday afternoon that it will play Troy University in the Silicon Valley Football Classic in San Jose, Calif. Dec. 30.

The game will kick off at 10 p.m. CST at Spartan Stadium and will be televised on ESPN2. NIU is 1-0 at Spartan Stadium, having beaten San Jose State 18-17 in 1995.

“This is a big step for the program,” NIU coach Joe Novak said. “We came up a little short in winning the conference championship this season but this is a great opportunity for us.”

This is the first year NIU has advanced to the postseason since 1983, when the Huskies defeated Cal State-Fullerton 20-13 in the California Bowl. Troy has never played in a bowl since joining Division I-A in 2001. The Trojans beat Marshall and Missouri this season and lost to defending co-national champion LSU 24-20. They finished 7-4 with a second-place finish in the Sun Belt Conference.

The MAC will receive $750,000 from the Silicon Valley Football Classic.

“It’s an honor and a privilege to participate in the Silicon Valley Football Classic,” NIU Athletics Director Jim Phillips said. “With the 21-year hiatus, it’s a historic time for our program and our institution.”

Fresno State defeated UCLA in last season’s Silicon Valley Football Classic. This is the fifth year the bowl will be held. Fresno State played in the first four games.

MAC schools Toledo, Bowling Green, Miami-Ohio and Marshall will also play in the postseason. Fellow MAC school Akron was the only bowl-eligible team in the nation not to receive a bowl bid.

The Huskies finished 8-3 in the regular season, including a 7-1 mark in the MAC. They finished 10-2 last season and defeated two ranked teams but were shut out of the postseason.

“This is a reward for all the hard work we’ve put in here,” NIU quarterback Josh Haldi said. “Everyone’s excited about getting one more chance to play together.”

NIU would have played in the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La., if Texas had not leapfrogged California in the latest BCS standings.

“We’re happy to go anywhere,” Novak said. “We knew we could’ve gone to Louisiana, but California is perfectly fine with us.”

The Huskies will practice Wednesday, Thursday and Friday this week. Before they depart Dec. 28 for San Jose, the team will have 12 practices beginning Wednesday at the DeKalb Park District indoor facility across from DeKalb High School.