THE SERIES: Western Illinois will face its in-state foe Northern Illinois for the 40th time. It is the first meeting between the two programs since 2009.
THE COACHES: Western Illinois head coach Charlie Fisher is in his first year at WIU. He is 2-0 with the Leathernecks and 38-17 overall in six years as a head coach... Northern Illinois' Rod Carey owns a 31-15 record in his fourth year at NIU and overall as a head coach.
THE RANKINGS: Western ranks 13th in the STATS FCS 'Top 25' poll, 12th in HERO Sports and 13th in FCS Coaches.
FISHER WINS HIS DEBUT: Looking back over the past 60 years, Charlie Fisher became the eighth head coach in Western history to win his debut. The Leathernecks' captured a 38-21 season-opening win at in-state rival Eastern Illinois... Fisher joins Don Patterson (1999 at Northern Illinois, 27-21) and Bill Shanahan (1976 at South Dakota State 28-21) as the only coach to win his debut when playing on the road in that same span... Starting his debut year 2-0, Fisher joins five other coaches to start their WIU career at least 2-0: Bob Nielson (2013, start 2-0, 4-8), Don Patterson (1999, 3-0, 7-4); Bill Shanahan (1976, 4-0, 7-3); Art Dufelmeier (1960, 2-0, 6-2); Wes Stevens (1954, 4-0-2, 6-1-3).
FBS HISTORY: Saturday's game will be the 36th contest all-time against a Football Subdivision opponent. The Leathernecks own a 6-29 record all-time, all six wins coming against teams from the Mid-American Conference, and will look to snap a 15-game losing streak against FBS programs.
LENOIR'S FOUR RECORDS: Lance Lenoir set his fourth career WIU record when he caught his 22nd touchdown pass to break a tie with Lito Senatus... He had already broken the career receptions, yardage and most 100-yard games records back in 2015.
ONE MORE CATCH FOR RECORD #5: If Lance Lenoir can record a catch at Northern Illinois, he will have made a catch in 33 straight games. That would tie him with Gunnard Twyner for the most in program history and become his fifth career WIU record.
LENOIR AMONG ACTIVE NCAA LEADERS: Lance Lenoir so far this year is ranked among the NCAA FCS career active leaders, including:
3rd in Total Receptions - 209
4th in Total Yards - 2,949
3rd in Receiving Touchdowns - 22
CENTURY MARK AND STATE OF LINCOLN: Lance Lenoir has three of his 10 career 100-yard games versus Illinois State, two have come versus Southern Illinois and seven of the 10 against teams from the state of Illinois.
LENOIR 100-YARD RECEIVING GAMES
231 - Northern Arizona (11 rec, TD/2016)
195 - Illinois State (career-high 12 rec, 2TD/2014)
132 - at Youngstown State (8 rec, 2TD/2014)
131 - at Illinois State (11 rec, TD/2015)
124 - Eastern Illinois (10 rec, TD/2015)
120 - Southern Illinois (4 rec/2015)
116 - at Coastal Carolina (10 rec/2015)
115 - at Southern Illinois (7 rec/2014)
115 - at Northwestern (11 rec/2014)
105 - Northern Iowa (5 rec/2014)
105 - at Illinois State (7 rec, 2TD/2013)
BORSELLINO REACHES 'TOP 10': Joey Borsellino continues his climb up the all-time yardage leaderboard... Borsellino overtook sixth place with 1,900 yards, just 100 from the 2,000 mark... Borsellino also joined the career 'Top 10' when he logged his fourth career 100-yard receiving game with a career-best 187 yards at Indiana State last year - 78 coming on a career-long touchdown pass from Sean McGuire.
BORSELLINO 100-YARD RECEIVING GAMES
187 - at Indiana State (career-high 10 rec, TD/2015)
113 - at Coastal Carolina (career-high 10 rec, TD/2015)
112 - South Dakota (4 rec, TD/2015)
110 - Southern Illinois (career-high 10 rec/2013)
CONSECUTIVE GAMES WITH A RECEPTION
33 - Gunnard Twyner (1993-95)
32 - Lance Lenoir (2013-Pr)
29 - Reggie Gray (2003-05)
25 - Joey Borsellino (2013-Pr)
25 - Terriun Crump (2009-11)
25 - Lito Senatus (2009-10)
25 - Steve Williams (1987-89)
NATIONAL STATISTICAL RANKINGS: Western shares the national lead in several categories in the latest NCAA FCS rankings:
4th Down Conversion Defense (.000), 4th Down Conversion (1.000), Fumbles Lost (0), Passes Had Intercepted (0), Redzone Offense (1.000), Redzone Defense (.400), and Turnovers Lost (0).
The Leathernecks are: 17th in 3rd down conversion (.485), 14th in blocked kicks (1), 18th in fewest penalty yards per game (42.5), 10th in punt return defense (-0.50), and 12th in turnover margin (1.5).
Individually:
• Steve McShane leads the nation in rushing yards per game (181.0) and second in all-purpose yards (212.0). He also stands sixth in scoring (12.0), 10th in rushing TDs (4), and ninth in yards per carry (6.96).
• Nathan Knuffman stands 13th in field goals per game (1.5) and 20th in punting (41.8).
• Steve Mercado and Mick Nelson are tied for eighth nationally with a fumble recovery.
• Stacey Smith moved up to 20th averaging 26.3 yards per kickoff return.
• Brett Taylor (11.5) and Xavier Rowe (10.5) rank first and second in the MVFC and 11th and 27th, respectively, nationally in tackles per game.
RECENT WINS OVER 'TOP 25' TEAMS: Eastern Illinois entered the 2015 season-opening game at Hanson Field ranked 25th in the FCS Coaches preseason poll. Dating back to the 2014 season-finale win versus #18 Indiana State, Western recorded consecutive wins in consecutive games versus a Top 25 opponent for the first time since the first two rounds of the 1998 NCAA playoffs (52-9 vs. #14 Montana; 24-21 vs. #2 Florida A&M)... After a 7-point loss at #1 Coastal Carolina, WIU rebounded in its next 'Top 25' meeting with a 24-19 win at #12 UNI... WIU closed the regular season with a win over #5 South Dakota State, the first 'Top 5' win since 2003. The SDSU win marked the 26th upset of a ranked team or higher ranked team dating back to 1985 in WIU history... The Leathernecks extended their streak following a home-opening 34-20 win over #17 Northern Arizona.
CURRENT SAGARIN RANKINGS: According to the current Sagarin rankings of all Division I football programs, Western Illinois stands seventh among the FCS teams (fourth-highest in MVFC) and 96th of 253 teams... Western is ranked ahead of 39 FBS programs.
   Among the conference ranking leaders, the Missouri Valley Football Conference once again stands as the top-ranked FCS league in 16th place. The MVFC (57.72) ranked ahead of: Sun Belt (17th/56.36), Conference USA East Division (18th/56.36), MAC-East (19th/56.34), and Conference USA West Division (20th/55.71). The next closest FCS Conference is the Colonial Athletic Conference (21st/49.22).
TWO MAJOR TURNAROUND STATISTICS FROM 2015: Western ended last year minus four minutes in the time of possession battle, losing the head-to-head statistic nine of the 13 games... This year the Leathernecks lead the Missouri Valley Football Conference and rank third nationally averaging 35:44 minutes per game... Last year, Western averaged 30.6 yards of net punting. So far in 2016, the Leathernecks have allowed minus-1 yards on punt returns to score a MVFC-leading 41.9 yards of net punting, good for fifth in the country.
LEATHERNECK NOTES:
• Steve McShane's 70-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter at Eastern Illinois was the longest by a Leatherneck dating back to 2000. In that game, Frisman Jackson set a WIU quarterback record for longest rush with his 77-yard run at Southern Illinois.
• Steve McShane's second half against Eastern Illinois put him in the record book. His 168 rushing yards in a half was the fourth-most in program history while his 110 yards in a quarter (fourth) ranked him sixth.
• Two of Brett Taylor's three career interceptions have come against Eastern Illinois. He owns 54 interception return yards versus the Panthers, including a touchdown.
• Xavier Rowe came up with his third game of 10-plus tackles. His 10 versus Northern Arizona marked his second straight game of 10-plus.
• Two members of the football team are dual-sport athletes for the Leathernecks. Steve McShane (2016 baseball - 33 GP/22 starts) and Justin Fitzpatrick (25 GP/19 starts), who both played football as a true-freshman last year, are also on the baseball team... Both started games last year for baseball head coach Ryan Brownlee.
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• Western has owned the 2nd and 4th quarters this year, shutting out opponents in both quarters this year... The Leathernecks own a 34-0 combined scoring advantage in those two quarters, are tied at 21-all in the 3rd and getting out-scored 20-17 in the 1st quarter.
• Part of the reason Western is holding opponents scoreless in the 2nd and 4th quarters, allowing just 1-of-8 and 2-of-8 on 3rd down conversions, respectively.
• The Leathernecks have forced at least one turnover in 34 of the last 38 contests... Seven times in the last 10 games Western recorded two or more takeaways.
• Before the final two games of the 2015 regular season, never before had Western played consecutive games that went to overtime.
• Adam Brott (94) is closing to recording his 100th career tackle, joining Brett Taylor (196) and David Griffith (117) in triple-digits.
MAKING STOPS: Brett Taylor had the highest tackle total by a sophomore since Edgerton Hartwell's 156 stops during the 1998 campaign... His team-leading 144 were 60 more than the next closest Leatherneck... Taylor earned preseason All-America and All-MVFC honors to start the 2016 campaign.
TAYLOR 10-PLUS TACKLES
17 - Southern Illinois (8 solo/9 assist, 2015)
16 - at Illinois (4 solo/12 assist, 2015)
15 - at North Dakota State (7 solo/8 assist, 2015)
14 - at Eastern Illinois (7 solo/7 assist, 2016)
14 - at Illinois State, FCS Playoffs (6 solo/8 assist, 2015)
13 - Youngstown State (9 solo/4 assist, 2015)
12 - at UNI (11 solo/1 assist, 2015)
11 - South Dakota State (9 solo/2 assist, 2015)
10 - Northern Arizona (6 solo/4 assist, 2016)
10 - South Dakota (6 solo/4 assist, 2015)
TAYLOR CLOSES IN ON 200: Thanks to sharing team-high honors with 10 tackles versus Northern Arizona, Brett Taylor now needs four stops to reach 200 in his career.
MOON IS RISING: Sophomore Quentin Moon played in all 13 games last year as a true-freshman with 26 tackles. He set a career-high with nine tackles against Northern Arizona to give him 13 this year - third on the team. Moon already matched his tackle for loss total from last year, with 2.0 this year (1.5 vs. NAU) and the first sack of his collegiate career.
KNUFFMAN LEADS IN CONSECUTIVE STARTS: Senior Nathan Knuffman extended his streak to 39 consecutive games with a start, every game of his career... Lance Lenoir saw his streak end at 37 consecutive following the season-opener but returned to the starting line-up and now has 38... Joey Borsellino joined the 30-start club when he earned the start at Eastern Illinois (31/27 consecutive). He joined Knuffman, Lenoir and Trenton Norvell (33) with the most among active players.
KNUFFMAN KICKS INTO THE RECORD BOOK: Senior Nathan Knuffman solidified his spot as one of the top five kickers in Western Illinois history... He ranks fifth all-time in the three categories: points (195), field goals (28) and extra points (111)... With five more points he'll reach 200 in his career... Knuffman is six extra points and 10 field goals away from moving up to the next spot.
VETERAN OFFENSIVE LINE RETURNS: Western returned four starters along the offensive line in 2016... Junior tackles James Torgerson and Josh Baldus return, along with junior center Jacob Judd. Senior Matt Zobrist moved from tackle to guard, and sophomore Drew Wagner filled in for the departure last year of senior Ryan Ricketts... Zobrist is in his third year as a starter while Torgerson, Baldus and Judd all stepped into a starting role last year.
NATIONAL LEADER: Steve McShane's sophomore year has gotten off to a good start, leading the nation in rushing yards per game (181 ypg). He also ranks second in the FCS averaging 212 all-purpose yards per game. He also stands 6th nationally in scoring (12.0 ppg), 9th nationally in rushing yards per carry (6.96 ypc), and 10th nationally in rushing TDs (4).
NO SOPHOMORE SLUMP: Last year in a reserve role, Steve McShane gained 232 yards on 65 attempts and did not score a TD in 12 games played... So far in his two games this year, McShane surpassed last year's rushing total - gaining 362 yards on 52 attempts and four rushing TDs... His 62 receiving yards on five catches almost surpass last year's 87 yards on 12 catches.
McGUIRE'S STARTING RECORD: When Sean McGuire took over as the starting quarterback late in the regular season, he led Western to a pair of overtime victories at Indiana State and South Dakota State. Throw in the FCS Playoff win at Dayton, and McGuire improved to 5-1 as a starter (2-1 vs. ranked teams).
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES: Northern Illinois lost its third straight game, falling in its home-opener 42-28 to San Diego State... The Huskies are scoring 26.3 points per game but allowing 43.3 points, 517 yards of total offense and 271 rushing yards per game... Opponents are jumping out early, outscoring NIU 31-7 in the first quarter... Kenny Golladay is the top receiving target, leading NIU with 20 receptions for 267 yards and three TDs... Three of Shane Wimann's six receptions have gone for touchdowns... Jordan Huff (142 yards) and Joel Bouagnon (125) lead the rushing attack... Bobby Jones leads the defense with 28 tackles (18 solos), including 4.0 for a loss... Jawuan Johnson leads with 5.5 tackles for a loss and has the team's lone fumble recovery... Mycial Allen (22) and Brandon Mayes (20) are second and third, respectively, in tackles... The Huskies play their final four games during midweek (2 Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday).
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