NIU will play an away game against Bowling Green this weekend. This time, the roles are reversed from a year ago.

The No. 12 Huskies (7-0) are the ones coming in unbeaten, while the No. 23 Falcons (6-1) are trying to use their home-field advantage to ruffle NIU 3 p.m. Saturday at Doyt Perry Field.

Last season, when NIU hosted undefeated Bowling Green, Huskie Stadium was packed with 25,822 fans banging their ThunderStix.

The Huskies were able to win that game 26-17, and the atmosphere in DeKalb was one factor in the game.

“We were intimidated from the get-go,” BGSU Coach Gregg Brandon said to the Toledo Blade. “With the ThunderStix, we couldn’t hear and we didn’t prepare for the crowd because we didn’t think it was noisy. It was noisier than Ohio State and Purdue were this year.”

“I remember walking in and [seeing] this intimidating crowd,” BGSU defensive lineman Mike Thaler told the Toledo Blade. “We’ve talked about the places like Ohio State and Purdue, and they have 100,000 people there, but we still think back to that game at Northern – that was the loudest, most intimidating crowd we’ve ever played in front of.”

ESPN Gameday will broadcast its show from BGSU and the game will be televised on ESPN 2. It marks the first time two ranked teams from the MAC will play on national TV.

The game is a sellout, and BGSU will try to follow in NIU’s footsteps from a year ago, by giving away ThunderStix to the first 12,000 fans.

The Falcons have the second best offense in the nation, averaging 514.6 yards a game.

“It may very well boil down to a P.J. Fleck or a Mike Turner making a great play,” NIU coach Joe Novak said. “Or a Josh Harris or a Cole Magner making a great play and being the difference in the game.”

BGSU quarterback Josh Harris ranks 10th in total offense in Division-IA with 306.9 yards per game. However, Harris has thrown seven interceptions.

Harris leads an offense that runs a lot of four and five receiver shotgun sets.

“It’s very tough,” NIU strong safety Akil Grant said. “They rotate wideouts and keep their guys fresh. For the secondary, that’s a lot of running downfield. I think our DBs here are in pretty good shape, so I think we can handle it.”

NIU ranks second in total defense in the MAC, trailing only Bowling Green.

NIU, BGSU and Toledo are all 3-0 in the MAC, giving the winner of this game little breathing room.

“This game right now is like championship week,” NIU defensive end Vinson Reynolds said. “This is the biggest game. Right now, they’re before Toledo, so this is the championship. Last year we had one loss and didn’t go to the championship, so we have to treat this like the championship.”