Toledo, OHIO – NIU coach Joe Novak knows Toledo is probably the best team the Huskies will face this year.

Novak went far enough to even say they are better than the Illinois team that gave NIU its first loss of the season.

“Toledo has 11 seniors returning and eight are fifth-year seniors,” he said. “It is the best football team we’ve played this year. I don’t know who is going to beat them down the road. I think Toledo is a Top 15 team.”

Novak thinks Toledo’s tailback Chester Taylor is better than Illinois’ duo of Antonio Harris and Rocky Harvey. Despite being two different quarterbacks, Novak thinks Tavares Bolden does a better job in creating plays that are not there.

Bolden knows the possibilities the Rockets have this season. The Rockets give the MAC its first ranked team since the 1999 season when Marshall finished No. 12 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll. The highest Toledo was ever ranked was No. 12 in the final 1970 AP poll.

“Being in the Top 25, teams are going to treat us like a Big Ten school,” Bolden said. “We’re going to have to come out ready to play.”

And with a schedule of Ohio, Ball State, Navy, Eastern and Western Michigan and Bowling Green, coach Tom Amstutz and the Rockets could be embarking on an undefeated season, but that doesn’t mean they can take their opponents lightly.

“We’re going to get each team’s best game every time out, but they’re going to get ours also,” Amstutz said. “I trust our seniors to keep providing the leadership they have been giving us.”

Receiver Donta Greene added, “Being in the Top 25 is pressure every week. We have to treat every game like a championship game.”