Every 20 years, the NIU football team seems to do something special.

At halftime of Saturday’s NIU-Iowa State game, the 1963 and 1983 Huskies teams were honored.

The ’63 players wore NIU jerseys with No. 63, while the ’83 teams wore the No. 83’s.

The scoreboard showed highlights from the 1963 championship team and 1983’s Mid-American Conference championship team.

“I am on cloud nine,” 1963 defensive tackle Dave Herstedt said. “I’ve got my family with me, my brother, his wife, my nephew, niece, all kinds of friends. It’s been a super week. Everybody knows about Northern Illinois right now. All my friends from Colorado are really impressed. I’m just so happy to be back here. I wish I lived here to go to the games every week or every other week.”

The 1963 Huskies were crowned College Division National Champions by the Associated Press and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. The 1983 team defeated Cal State-Fullerton 20-13 in the California Bowl.

The ceremony lasted about 10 minutes as the players lined up at midfield while their achievements were read to the record crowd of 28,218, who gave the players a standing ovation.

“It’s unbelievable to see the stands filled,” 1983 kicker Garo Emerzian said. “It took 20 years to get to this point, but to see it filled with fans is a great thing.”

NIU Athletic Director Cary Groth and NIU President John Peters joined the players at midfield for the presentation.

The former Huskies then took photos by the north end zone, while the band played the hits of 1963 and 1983.

“It was obviously great getting a little bit of recognition,” said 1983 safety Steve Kmiec. “It was nice to have people know who we were and be able to play in a bowl game and to have that experience. It happens once in a lifetime to only a few people.”

This year marks 20 years since the Huskies won the California Bowl. As for what today’s No. 17 Huskies can accomplish, that is yet to be seen.