Every week before NIU football games, Sweeps will bring you the real matchups that matter, like which team mascot would win in a street fight.

This week, our beloved husky will face off against a symbol of American freedom – Eastern Michigan University’s eagle.

Barring an NIU bowl bid (go, Bowling Green!), this will be the last week our beloved husky will be subjected to a mascot street fight, and it won’t be easy.

From 1929 to the early ‘90s, EMU went by the nickname of the “Hurons” until they began investigating the appropriateness of its Huron Indian logo. The Michigan Department of Civil Rights issued a report in October 1988 suggesting that all schools using such logos drop them.

EMU adopted the nickname “Eagles” on May 22, 1991 when they replaced the existing Huron nickname and logo with the new one.

Can the husky pick up a victory over an eagle after dropping a similar battle to the Bowling Green Falcon and its razor-sharp talons earlier in the season?

David Jingst, a junior history education major, said the husky can pull out a victory.

“The husky would probably win because it’s smarter and has the advantage of watching the eagle fly, so it would know what to do next,” Jingst said. “All the eagle has is its talons and the husky can see it coming.”

Nick Bennett, a freshman hospitality administration major and senior psychology major Shawn Winter weren’t convinced the husky could overcome the eagle.

“The eagle would win because he has some wicked claws,” Bennett said.

It was at this point that Winter forced his way into the conversation.

“They’re talons,” Winter said.

“Whatever, [expletive deleted] you,” Bennett said.

Sweeps turned to John Dickerman, faculty assistant for biological sciences for his take on this dog-against-bird battle.

“To be perfectly honest, I think they would just ignore each other,” Dickerman said.

However, if push came to shove and there was food involved, the eagle might have the upper hand, Dickerman said.

“The eagle has the ability to fly away if it started to lose the fight,” he said. “You can’t really beat the mobility of an eagle, which is a problem for the husky.”

Final verdict: It appears that the husky didn’t learn from its earlier defeat to a falcon and once again comes up short of a victory against the mobile, sharp-taloned eagle.

Reporter’s note: No animals were harmed in the writing of this article.