As the sun ascended just before noon Saturday, students gathered by the masses at Huskie Stadium’s lawnside.

Aside from mottled cheeks and runny noses because of the crisp autumn chill, students shared something else in common: an anxiousness to join in on the morning festivities of drink.

Only once in a great while does the day call for awake-and-intoxicate — tailgating at an NIU home football game.

Perched on the bed of a pick-up truck; sustaining warmth from a worn hoodie and a cold brew; sharing a snack with a total stranger; hamming it up in the company of friends, sometimes enemies … these are tokens of tailgating.

Staggering through grass littered with football clutter and empty cups; stumbling over to packs of other students; enjoying the antics and oddities of unrelenting fans; catching yourself following the chants and cheers of total strangers … these are tokens of tailgating.

Yet, even aside from taking in the enjoyment of a frothy beer, it takes more to harness the true spirit of tailgating — NIU style.

If there’s one thing NIU students possess in multitudes, especially when it comes to drinking alcohol, it’s spirit.

Students broke barriers this weekend with a new wave of tomfoolery in spirit of the event.

What appeared to be a walking gorilla, cheetah and cow, arrived just before noon.

But these zoo animals showed up with backpacks of beer in tow.

These “animals” actually were students who donned Halloween suits to show spirit and humor for other fans.

NIU alumnus Jordan Freeman wore a cotton cow suit, udder and all; NIU alumnus Chris Gordon sported a fuzzy cheetah ensemble; and a friend of theirs dressed as a gorilla by wearing a heavy black faux fur jumpsuit.

“I cry for attention,” Gordon said.

Off in the distance, whoops and hollers rang out as people surrounded yet another eye-catching demonstration.

All eyes were fixed on the half-naked hula-dancer who was chugging beer and shaking it for the crowd.

Senior communication major Nick Blumhoff was wearing nothing aside from a straw hula skirt, white boxers and a green lei.

He insisted the best way to show love at tailgating was to do something out of the ordinary.

“What else are you going to do with your time?” Blumhoff said. “You’re either going to sit in your apartment and feel like a dips—, or come do this.”

Aside from dressing up in animal suits (or dressing down to almost nothing), students showed other ways of proving their unrelenting spirit.

In the middle of the grounds, a mass of students surrounded senior engineering major Brian Wilson’s pick-up truck.

Packs of students joined in celebration on and around the 1989 Chevy Comanche. They even had bean-bag boxes set up alongside the Comanche for “bago” — a game catching popularity among students as feverishly as 40-cent drafts on Tuesday nights.

Wilson had rounded up about 50 people to partake in the festivities. The students made great use of the Comanche’s ample “drinking space” in the bed, and they partied around it as well.

“The older the truck, the better the tailgating,” Wilson said. “We had a dozen people in the back on the way here.”

Wilson and his pack of tailgaters had showed up so early to begin tailgating that they initially were turned away. The bunch was so insistent on beginning the party at 10 a.m. that they resorted to starting the festivities elsewhere until security allowed them in.

“We pre-tailgated in front of the Rec,” Wilson said.

Meanwhile, a gin-and-juice celebration was underway nearby.

Three men donning oversized, red fuzzy hats sat on their car with mixed drinks, undertaking their own celebration of the event.

One of the hat-wearers, graduate student Barron Lacey, stressed the men’s devotion to NIU.

“We were big fans, even when they were losing,” Lacey said.

Lacey said their enjoyment of the team’s success so far was enough.

“I don’t care if we lose every other game,” Lacey said. “We beat Alabama.”