The ride was fun, but the moment is over. The Huskies have to forget about last week’s 26-19 victory over the Illinois State Redbirds and come back to Division I-A reality.

The Huskies will travel to Jonesboro, Ark. to face the Indians of Arkansas State University this Saturday at 1:30.

Last year, ASU went through its worst season in 50 years. The Indians finished the 1991 season with a 1-10 ledger. The Tribe allowed 361 points on the year (32.8 per game), which was the most in 70 years, and yielded 414.6 yards per game of total offense.

The Indians return only 15 starters (seven on offense, eight on defense). Included are junior wide receiver Kendricke Bullard, who caught 29 passes for 507 yards and two touchdowns, senior linebacker Cedric Buckley, who led his team with 114 tackles last year and junior linebacker Marcus Lawson with 105 tackles.

With an enrollment of only 10,200 students, ASU has gone through numerous changes in the past year. The school named Ray Perkins its new head coach, joined the Big West Conference consortium and brought its program into the world of Division I football, which received a rude welcoming party from Toledo and Oklahoma.

On Sept. 5, ASU traveled to Toledo, Ohio to face the Mid-American power Rockets. Toledo ran all over the Indians forcing four turnovers (two interceptions, two fumbles), rushing for 266 yards and 124 passing yards in the 49-0 slaughter.

The very next week, the Indians got the opportunity to play one of the toughest schools in the nation—the Oklahoma Sooners. The Sooners scored on every possession and gained 532 yards of total offense, while the Indians were held to only 73 yards in the 61-0 nightmare.

What makes their game against NIU different is the fact that the Indians will be playing at home, something the Huskies would rather be doing, instead of being on the road.

ASU owns a 59-31-1 record at Indian Stadium, which holds 33,410 spectators. NIU wishes it could flaunt the same record on the road. The Huskies have won only one game of their last eleven road games and are currently riding an eight-game losing streak away from home.

The Huskies and Indians have met only twice in their history, both won by the Huskies and both played in DeKalb. Despite having NFL experience on his resume, the birth of a new Division I-A ballclub may give Perkins a struggle in ASU’s final year as an independent.