NIU football players Thomas Hammock, P.J. Fleck and Jason Frank recently were named to the 2001 Verizon-CoSIDA Academic All-American Football Team. The District V team encompasses Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ontario and Manitoba. To qualify...

Sometimes reality is harsh. The NIU football team currently sits with a 6-4 record and is eligible to receive a bowl bid. Next week's foe, Wake Forest, is not bowl-eligible. With a win on Saturday, Wake Forest would reach the minimum number of games needed...

Head football coach Joe Novak knows the significance of the Huskies' final home game this Saturday. "There is certainly a lot more on the line for this game," Novak said. "Winning the West would be another step for our program." If the Huskies win Saturday,...

What more can be said about the dream season the NIU football team completed Saturday with a 41-17 win over Ohio and a trip to the California Bowl Dec. 17, in Fresno, Calif.? Domination was the name of the game for the Huskies. They ran the football almost...

Go ahead. Admit it. You never thought you would see the day when NIU would be playing for a share of the Mid-American Conference Championship in football. Some of you even doubted your children would ever see the day the Huskies would rise to the MAC's...

Rarely is a person too big to play the game of football, but when it came time to play in junior high, Huskie linebacker Nick Duffy fit that description. "I was too big to play football," Duffy said of his junior high years. "I weighed too much to play."...

He is nicknamed Boogie for his quick feet on the dance floor, but it's his fast feet on the football field that are getting the job done for Lionel Hickenbottom. "We started calling him Boogie last year because he's a good dancer," said good friend and...

No one wants to grow up and be a kicker — it's not a pretty job, and kickers only are noticed when they screw up. The same can be said for NIU kicker Steve Azar. After struggling in the early part of the season, the former walk-on from Colorado has...

I walked out of the gates of Huskie Stadium on Saturday. I had just sat through the post-game press conference where I listened to both head coaches, a few NIU players and a guy a couple rows behind me who asked too many questions. It was not anything...

Saturday's football game with Eastern Michigan provides an interesting storyline for even the most casual football fan. Last season, NIU took a 5-4 record into Ypsilanti to face lowly Eastern Michigan. The result was one of the most embarrassing losses...

Being in the limelight isn't their specialty ... defense is. Two of perhaps the most important players on the court for the Huskies are rarely noticed by the press, or even by spectators. Despite being overlooked, senior Jen Scarpino and junior Coley...

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. — Joe Novak knows the NIU football team could have folded Saturday after falling behind Central Michigan 24-7 at halftime. But the Huskies responded by scoring 26 unanswered points in the second half to steal a 33-24 win over the...