The day finally has arrived.

At 6:35 p.m. today, NIU football kicks off its much-anticipated season against No. 13 (ESPN/USA Today) Maryland at Huskie Stadium.

Fox Sports Net will televise the game nationally to potentially reach 95.4 million households.

NIU’s home opener has the potential to be a sellout if everything goes as planned, ticket manager Mike Rockovich said.

Rockovich said a huge walk-up crowd is expected as well, and any students coming late may have to sit in the upper corners of the west side.

Maryland comes into tonight’s contest as the highest-ranked team ever to play at Huskie Stadium. Playing a top-tier team is nothing new for NIU, which took on No. 22 (Associated Press) Wisconsin last season. However, this time the game is at home, which excites the players.

"We just gotta play mistake-free football," NIU quarterback Josh Haldi said. "We’re gonna have to play really well to beat those guys, because they are a great football team. We’re just really excited; it’s a great challenge to get a team like that into Huskie Stadium and see what we can do with them."

The Terrapins are coming off an 11-3 season and a Peach Bowl victory over Tennessee, but the Terps have some early season injuries that may help the Huskies.

Maryland senior running back Bruce Perry will not start and is not expected to play, according to the Washington Post. Sophomore Josh Allen will get the starting nod.

"I think he’d be starting for a lot of clubs," Maryland offensive coordinator Charlie Taaffe told the Washington Post. "He gives us an explosive back in his own right."

Starting quarterback Scott McBrien is expected to play despite a sprained groin muscle.

The Huskies haven’t fared well against Top 25 teams with a 2-20 record all-time, with one of those being a 26-17 victory last year against Bowling Green.

This week, NIU athletes are taking on some of the best in the nation.

While the football team hosts top 25 ranked Maryland today, the men’s soccer team kicks off the regular season at 5 p.m. Friday against Wisconsin-Milwaukee in Madison, Wisc. The Huskies will finish their business up north with a 2:30 p.m. game Sunday against the University of Wisconsin.

A preseason poll by NSCAA/adidas has WMU ranked No. 18 in the nation, and rightfully so.

The Panthers finished with an overall record of 19-1-1 last year and went undefeated at home, 13-0-0. The Huskies were at their best on the road last year with a record of 3-4-1.

Offense left stranded

Leading the Huskies with six goals last year, junior Bernhard Hagevik may miss up to seven weeks because of a severe ankle sprain.

"My parents will be coming to the country for the first time ever in three weeks," Hagevik said. "I really want to be able to play for them."

Fellow Norwegian teammate Thomas Meiner also will be absent from this weekend’s games - and the rest of the season.

"I got an e-mail from him saying he was going to stay home and go to the University of Oslo," said NIU head coach Steve Simmons. "I sent him an e-mail wishing him the best and to stay in touch."

Meiner tied for second on the team with three goals last season and continued to play club soccer in Norway this past summer.

Simmons is looking to senior Matt Stukenberg to lead NIU’s offense. The Huskies finished second to last in the MAC last year with 19 goals.

Clerihew named new assistant

After spending three years as Simmons’ assistant coach at Division III Linfield College in Oregon, Ian Clerihew will back up Simmons once again.

"We had talked before about if he were to get the job," Clerihew said. "It was just a matter of sorting out some logistics."

Pala lands contract in Turkey

After taking over coaching duties for the NIU men’s soccer team until a replacement was named, Rasih Pala left to train for soccer in Toronto, Ontario.

On June 13, Pala received a telephone call offering him a professional soccer contract to play in Turkey. Pala was on a plane the next day to play for Buyukbehir Belediye Sport in the Turkish second division A League.

Pala spent the next 10 days training in the mountains of Istanbul with his teammates.

The starting goalkeeper position was open when Pala signed with the team, and he was in the running for the starting position.

In its first game of this season, Buyukbehir Belediye Sport lost 1-0 to Kayserispor.

Randy Starks is no ordinary junior. A 19-year-old, 6-foot-4, 312-pound defensive tackle is pretty difficult to locate, at least figuratively.

Starks was picked by ESPN as the preseason ACC defensive player of the year. Last season, Starks collected 93 tackles, 12 and one-half for a loss and six and one-half sacks. His ability to break up the middle of the offensive line could be the key to whether Michael Turner burns or flops against Maryland.

Expect to see him up against the left side of the line where two freshmen, Doug Free and Matt Rogers, are expected to start.

"I don’t really focus on who plays where," Starks said. "I’m sure they’ll be good players because they are starters on a very good football team."