Editor’s note: This column is courtesy of Central Michigan Life, the CMU student newspaper. NIU plays CMU at 3:05 p.m. Saturday at Huskie Stadium.

In order to take his team to another level, a coach needs a prototype; a team to emulate and model success after.

CMU coach Brian Kelly is using the formula of success he had at Division II Grand Valley State as just that.

Recruit well. Hire a strong staff. Change a losing culture into a winning program.

While this certainly worked for Kelly at GVSU, if he wants a true team to model after, he should look no further than the opponents of CMU’s three-game hell stretch that are Bowling Green, NIU and Toledo.

The Huskies were in a situation similar to Central’s in the mid-1990s, except worse. In 1996, the Huskies hired Joe Novak, who managed just three wins in three seasons. But the NIU administration did something perhaps unexpected and rode the tide with Novak, looking past his dismal record and looking forward to his future plans. They reaped the benefits.

After spending 1999-2001 one game above .500, the Huskies’ patience paid off with an 8-4 season in 2002.

Then came the breakthrough season of 2003, when NIU posted wins against Maryland, Alabama and Iowa State.

Now they are consistently mentioned alongside Marshall, Miami, Toledo and Bowling Green as the MAC’s elite.

How did the Huskies accomplish this?

They found a good coach who had a good plan and strong staff. They recruited the type of athletes who eventually could win games. They created a winning atmosphere around the team and campus, and they showed patience in Novak.

Patience is not much of a virtue at Central Michigan. Just as DeKalb was in the mid 1990s, Mount Pleasant is fed up with losing. Without a winning season since 1998, it is for good reason.

Chippewas fans are tired of seeing schools like NIU, Bowling Green and Toledo rise from the ashes to become conference powerhouses.

There was a time when CMU’s program was further ahead than these three. That time has long since passed.

Maybe it’s fitting that the next three games are against this trio. Fans can again look at these schools and wonder what could have been. Kelly will look at these schools and wonder what can and will be.

A good step would be to show up Saturday against NIU.

CMU’s defense was torched against Bowling Green and will be again unless defensive coordinator John Jancek can shore it up.

The Chippewas will be heavy underdogs against the Huskies, but they cannot afford another blowout. It would be devastating to a team, which will have to turn it around and contain a high-powered Toledo offense next week.

A blowout against these three schools would equal disaster for the Chippewas, whose confidence would be destroyed heading into the crucial Western Michigan game.

Central needs a strong game against NIU after taking a step backward against Bowling Green.

It could prove that, just maybe, the Chippewas are beginning the process of closing the canyon between them and the MAC’s elite.

Until then, they simply can look to the sidelines and see how large the gap remains.