The football teams trip to Kalamazoo, Mich., will be especially hard for NIU starting defensive end Travis Moore.

Moore became a father to Mya Marie Moore, born at 4:55 p.m. Tuesday, weighing six pounds, 14 ounces.

“It’ll be hard because I just had an overwhelming experience,” Moore said. “Just being away from her one day at practice has been hard.”

Moore missed Tuesday’s practice to be with his wife and daughter but will travel with the team this weekend to face Western Michigan at 1 p.m. Saturday.

The Huskies (5-2 overall, 4-0 MAC) lost their first two road games of the season against Maryland and Iowa State and squeaked by on a game-winning field goal by Chris Nendick to escape an upset at winless Central Florida.

“We just haven’t put anybody away on the road,” NIU wide receiver Dan Sheldon said. “At Iowa State, we came out real strong, but we didn’t keep that momentum going to put them out of the game. The same is true with Central Florida – we let them stay in it.”

Since 2001, the Huskies have won 24 of 28 games at Huskie Stadium, but are 11-13 on the road.

“It’s not that it’s that much more difficult,” Moore said. “It’s just that we have a great crowd. Being away from that atmosphere makes you play different. With that home crowd, were kind of spoiled.”

The Huskies hold a three-game winning streak against WMU. The Broncos (1-5, 0-3) have lost their last five games, with their only win against Tennessee Martin in their first game of the season.

“They’ve got nothing to lose,” NIU coach Joe Novak said. “They always have great skill. They’re very aggressive and it’s a difficult game for us. We’ve never had much success in Kalamazoo. It’ll be a tough, intense football game.”

Sheldon expects WMU to try to shut down running back Garrett Wolfe, who leads the MAC in rushing yards.

“I expect them to make us throw the ball,” Sheldon said. “They know weve got a great running attack; they know about our line, and they’re going to make us throw the ball.”

Wolfe leads the nation with 14 touchdowns and is seventh in the nation with 782 rushing yards.

“He’s just one of those guys that with a lasso and a bunch of sticky glue, you still couldn’t hang onto him,” WMU coach Gary Darnell said. “It’s like trying to tackle a 180-pound bass; he’ll just jump right out of your hands. Behind that big offensive line, he just disappears.”