10 wins.

NIU coach Joe Novak said that might be ho-hum at Nebraska.

But this isn’t Nebraska.

The 18 seniors who experienced their final home game Saturday helped set a regular-season win record at NIU by beating Eastern Michigan 38-24.

“We wanted this for our seniors,” Novak said. “It’s a special moment. This is a great group of kids; they’ve accomplished so much.”

In four years, the senior class won 30 games, third best in NIU history. The seniors also compiled a 20-4 record at home in that time.

Barring an at-large invitation to a bowl game, senior running back Michael Turner finished his career with 4,941 rushing yards, the 13th-best total in NCAA history. Turner carried 25 times for 166 yards and had three touchdowns against EMU. Turner will leave NIU with 21 100-yard games, the best in school history.

“It’s something I never imagined doing,” Turner said, about breaking records. “I wanted to be great. I want to thank my offensive line. I can’t do it all by myself.”

At the beginning of the season, the offensive line was a question mark. The only senior was Todd Ghilani.

Ghilani helped spring a Turner 59-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.

“When I came in as a freshman, I came into a good situation,” Ghilani said. “I got to play behind McAllister Collins, and then I basically started the other three years. I just took it and ran with it. It couldn’t have ended any better, except for a bowl game. This was great.”

Senior kicker Steve Azar scored 11 points on Saturday, giving him 104 for the season but missing the MAC record by one point.

Azar already holds the MAC record for most kick scoring points (369) and field goals made (73).

Fellow senior P.J. Fleck also put his name in the NIU record books with 77 receptions for 1,028 yards. Fleck became the fourth NIU receiver to pass the 1,000-yard mark in school history. The 77 receptions mark the second best single-season total in school history.

“You can’t measure what these kids have done,” Novak said. “Four winning seasons, 30 wins. As a group and as individuals, they’ve put this football program on the map.”

For the first time since Novak took over in 1996, NIU was able to redshirt all of its freshmen.

“The foundation is there,” Novak said. “This is the first year we didn’t play a freshman. There is no reason this football program can’t be successful for years to come.”