March 11, 2008

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2008 NIU Schedule in PDF Format

2008 Football Season Ticket Information and Order Forms

DeKALB, Ill. - Six games at Huskie Stadium, including the first visit by the Midshipmen of the Naval Academy, as well as road trips to Minnesota and Tennessee, highlight the 2008 Northern Illinois University football schedule released Tuesday by NIU and the Mid-American Conference.

New Huskie head coach Jerry Kill will make his Northern Illinois debut on Saturday, Aug. 30 when the Huskies take on Minnesota, while NIU will play its first home game on Sept. 20 versus Indiana State.

Northern Illinois will play eight conference games in 2008, up from seven in 2007, beginning in the second week of the season when Northern Illinois travels to Kalamazoo to face Western Michigan on Sept. 6. The Huskies will play all three of the MAC's 2007 bowl teams - MAC Champ Central Michigan (Motor City Bowl), Ball State (International Bowl) and Bowling Green (GMAC Bowl) - as well as championship game participant Miami (Ohio) in 2008. In addition to home games versus East Division foes Bowling Green and Miami, NIU's remaining "cross over" game is at Kent State (Tues., Nov. 18); the Flashes feature the nation's leading returning rusher in Eugene Jarvis.

The Huskies' home schedule includes three straight October home contests as NIU will play five of its last seven 2008 contests in DeKalb. Following the Indiana State home opener on Sept. 20, Northern Illinois will play host to MAC foes Miami, Toledo and Bowling Green on successive Saturdays beginning Oct. 11 with the Toledo game on Oct. 18 designated as Homecoming. November weeknight games versus Central Michigan (Nov. 12) and Navy (Nov. 25) close out the home slate.

After seeing the schedule, Kill emphasized the importance of winning at home.

"To win a conference championship, you have to win at home and create a home-field advantage," he said. "The two times that I came here [as coach of] Southern Illinois, I was so impressed with the support that the NIU fans and especially the students, gave their team. We have to make it challenging for every opponent that comes to our place - no matter what day of the week, what time of day or what month it is."

Road contests at Minnesota and Tennessee, along with the first visit by Navy to Huskie Stadium, highlight Northern Illinois' 2008 non-conference slate. The Jerry Kill Era at NIU will begin on August 30 in Minneapolis when NIU takes on Minnesota for just the second time in school history, and the first time since 1988. The Huskies visit Tennessee's famed Neyland Stadium on Oct. 4 in the first meeting between those teams.

"Going into the first game at Minnesota and then in October going to Tennessee will be tremendous challenges, and tremendous opportunities, for our program," Kill said. "But this program has met a lot of challenges over the years. The key is to focus on what we can control, which is our team and how we play. I worry more about our team than I do about our opponents."

Kill also cautioned not to forget about a very good non-conference opponent who the Huskies will face at the close of the season when Navy visits DeKalb for the first time in a series that started last year at Annapolis.

"Navy is right in there, and maybe even tougher, than those other two," Kill said. "The offense that they run is so difficult to prepare for, that will be a huge task for our team as well."

The Northern Illinois-Navy game has been selected for national television broadcast on ESPN2 and will be played on Tuesday, Nov. 25 with a 6 p.m. (Central) kickoff. That game will mark NIU's 31st appearance on the ESPN family of networks as the Huskies' 2008 games at Ball State (Weds., Nov. 5) and versus Central Michigan (Tues., Nov. 12) will be broadcast on either ESPN2, ESPNU or ESPN360. Northern Illinois made five appearances on an ESPN broadcast in 2006 and three games, including the 2007 season opener versus Iowa on ESPNU, were televised by that organization a year ago.

Thanks to ESPN and to the Huskies' partnership with top regional network Comcast SportsNet Chicago, Northern Illinois has become one of the top televised teams in the Mid-American Conference with 42 total games broadcast since 2004. Ten NIU games were seen on broadcast television in 2007.

Kill appreciates the value of television exposure to the football program and to Northern Illinois University.

"Certainly with recruiting, every kid asks how many times are you on TV, and are you on ESPN," Kill said. "Everybody wants that national exposure, and when you play on Tuesday or Wednesday night, you are going to get that. For recruiting purposes it's very important for our program to continue to get that kind of exposure. These games also provide a great opportunity to showcase our university and our community to a national audience."

Season tickets for the 2008 schedule are on sale now through the Huskie Athletics Ticket Office in the NIU Convocation Center, by calling 815-752-6800 or on-line at www.niuhuskies.com. Fans who purchased season tickets in 2007 and renew for 2008 by April 26 - the date of this year's spring football game at Huskie Stadium - can purchase the entire six-game 2008 season ticket package at last year's five-game price of just $95.

After April 26, the basic price for both renewals and new season tickets will be $110, or an average of just $18.33 per game. For 2008, Northern Illinois has also added a three-game ticket package or season ticket "mini-plan" for $55 which will consist of three games. The games which will be included in the mini-plan will be announced later this month. Click on the link above for more ticket information.

-- NIU --