NIU quarterback Chris Finlen has been looking forward to Saturday’s game against Illinois since he saw it was on the schedule.

“Well, not just me, but the whole team has been looking forward to this game,” the senior said. “Don’t get me wrong, we didn’t overlook South Florida. But it’s always exciting to play an Illinois [team], especially growing up watching them.”

The Huskies enter the game as the underdog, something Finlen loves. Finlen hopes the Huskies will surprise people, just like they did in their 20-17 win against South Florida last Thursday.

“We just have to go out there and play our brand of football,” he said. “We are excited about the opportunity to go down to Illinois. You look forward to going down to play in a stadium like Illinois’ with 65-70,000 people. That is what drives you. That is what is so exciting about college football.”

Coach Joe Novak agrees with Finlen.

“This is something that everyone will remember for the rest of their lives,” Novak said. “There are a lot of guys that know each other. There are 137 Illinois players that will be on the field.”

After the Illini’s 44-17 win over California last Saturday, Novak’s biggest worry is the secondary. Quarterback Kurt Kittner and receiver Brandon Lloyd destroyed the Golden Bears’ secondary with Kittner passing for 297 yards and hooking up with Lloyd for eight receptions, 178 yards and two touchdowns.

The Huskies gave up two long touchdown passes, one for 57 yards and another for 52, which worries Novak. Lloyd burned California for a 49-yard touchdown pass.

“If I am correct, that guy that was covering Lloyd on that pass was an All-PAC 10 corner,” Novak said. “So we are going to have to be smart on that.

“They are a good offensive team. Lloyd is their big play guy. He’s their spark. And a lot of people don’t understand that they run the ball really well as well. You line up for the pass and they’ll run it on you.”