It’s no mystery that the NIU football team has struggled against Toledo.

The Huskies have lost 10 games in a row to the Rockets since defeating them Nov. 11, 1989.

The last two losses have been especially damaging. The Huskies could have clinched the MAC West with a victory over Toledo on Nov. 23, 2002, but the Rockets overcame a 17-0 deficit and won 33-30. NIU’s bowl game aspirations suffered a big hit with last year’s 49-30 loss.

“There’s respect and there’s obviously a little animosity,” NIU quarterback Josh Haldi said. “They’re the reason we haven’t accomplished our goals the last two years.”

One play that symbolizes NIU’s struggle against Toledo took place in last season’s game at Toledo’s Glass Bowl.

The Huskies had climbed to within 28-24 after trailing 28-7 at halftime. The momentum was in their favor. The Rockets faced third-and-33 from their 40-yard line. The table was set for NIU to stop a nine-game losing streak against Toledo.

Toledo quarterback Bruce Gradkowski had other ideas. He found tight end Andrew Clarke for a 60-yard touchdown pass. The streak was not going to end that day. NIU lost 49-30.

“Football’s a funny game,” Toledo coach Tom Amstutz said. “Sometimes teams just do well against other teams. We’ve been very fortunate against [NIU].”

For the third year in a row, NIU faces Toledo in a key late-season matchup. Kickoff is 6:35 p.m. today at Huskie Stadium. With a win, NIU would be MAC West champions, regardless of what it does against Eastern Michigan in its final regular season game Nov. 20.

NIU linebacker Javan Lee has his finger on the Toledo quandary.

“To me, every time we lose to Toledo, it’s because of just losing our cool,” Lee said. “It’s not that we were getting our [butts] kicked out there. It’s just that we lose our cool and then we can’t rebound.”

Last season, it was the play on third-and-33 that the Huskies could not rebound from. Two seasons ago it was an 80-yard fourth-quarter touchdown drive by the Rockets that broke the Huskies’ back. The Rockets got the ball with 2:51 left trailing 30-26. They marched right down the field and snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.

“That was a slap in the face,” Lee said.

Haldi felt the Huskies should have put the Rockets away early with a 17-point second quarter lead.

“To be honest, we should have never been in that position,” Haldi said. “Offensively, we got up 17-0 and we didn’t finish. We just let up too many big plays on defense and didn’t finish a drive that could have put them away. There’s no blame, it just comes back to us as a football team not executing and them doing the little things to win.”

Win tonight and the MAC West will belong to the Huskies. The math is simple: Beat Toledo.

“In order for us to get over that hump and win the championship, we’ve gotta do that,” Haldi said.

Fifteen years, 10 games and 60 minutes stand in the way.