Vince Thompson has given the NIU football team its fourth Mid-American Conference Player of the Week.

The junior, who won the first of his career after being named MAC West Division Defensive Player of the Week, finished with one interception, which was returned for a 33-yard touchdown to give the Huskies the 20-10 lead in the third quarter against Sam Houston State Saturday.

“I knew that play was coming from tendencies on our scouting report,” Thompson said. “Once I saw it, I forgot about everything I was supposed to be doing and got the ball. As a cornerback, you are going to get beat. It’s all about how you respond.”

The interception is Thompson’s sixth in two seasons, and his first in the 2001 campaign. The junior cornerback also finished with six tackles and three pass deflections against the Bearkats.

“Vince did a great job of coming back from our first game,” NIU coach Joe Novak said. “Vince has a lot of confidence. As a corner, you just can’t back off. You’ve got to stay aggressive.”

Previous Huskie MAC Players of the Week were: tailback Thomas Hammock and place kicker Steve Azar in the Huskies’ 20-17 win against South Florida and Lionel Hickenbottom in NIU’s 17-12 loss to Illinois.

NIU faces No. 25 Toledo this Saturday in the Glass Bowl with a kickoff at 6 p.m. The Rockets boast the current MAC West Offensive Player of the Week, tailback Chester Taylor, who had 164 rushing yards and five touchdowns.