GAME NOTES (PDF)

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - There is no place like home, and the Northern Arizona football team eyes their home opener, this Saturday at 4 p.m. in the Walkup Skydome versus No. 22 Western Illinois, as the perfect opportunity to excite their fans and pick up their first win of the season in the process. Saturday's contest is the first of six home games for NAU this fall and will be ushered in with the annual Running of the Freshmen prior to kickoff.

NAU looks to avenge last season's 34-20 loss to Western Illinois in Macomb, Ill. with a performance that it hopes to build off last week's season opener at Arizona. Although the Lumberjacks lost 62-24 to Arizona, they managed to put up 562 yards of total offense, which led all of the Big Sky Conference last week. Behind the arm of sophomore quarterback Case Cookus (306 passing yards) and the legs of running back duo, junior Cory Young (115 rushing yards) and sophomore Joe Logan (101 rushing yards), NAU put up a promising first showing under new offensive coordinator Brian Sheppard.

On the defensive side of the ball, junior safety Kam'ron Johnson posted a career-high eight tackles in his first career start. Senior linebacker Byron Evans and junior linebacker Jake Casteel each registered five tackles, while Casteel notched NAU's lone sack against the Wildcats.

Saturday will be the third all-time meeting between NAU and Western Illinois. Prior to last season's meeting on the Fighting Leathernecks' home field, the two teams had not met since 1967. The Lumberjacks shut out their counterparts in that meeting, 34-0.

The pregame show with Mitch Strohman and Kevin Stephens will start at 3 p.m. on the Lumberjack Radio Network.

Welcome, Mr. Young: Making his NAU debut on Sept. 2, junior Cory Young made quite the impression, rushing for 115 yards on only 11 carries, averaging 10.5 yards per carry. He accounted for two of NAU's three touchdowns in its 62-24 loss to Arizona in the Lumberjacks' 2017 season opener. On his first carry, the Boise State transfer sprinted 58 yards untouched that tied the score at 7-7 less than six minutes into the game. Young later added a seven-yard touchdown run that brought NAU within 21-14. Along with sophomore Joe Logan, who also tallied 101 rushing yards, Young was the first Lumberjack to record 100 rushing yards against an FBS opponent since Zach Bauman did so against UNLV in 2012. Young posted the highest rushing total in the conference in Week 1.

Don't Take Offense, Tucson: Despite suffering a loss in their first game of the season, the 'Jacks put their Pac-12 rival - and the rest of the Big Sky - on notice with their offensive explosion. NAU posted 562 yards of total offense, its highest total since at least 2000 against an FBS opponent, against Arizona and leads the conference in total offense after one week. Individually, sophomore quarterback Case Cookus ranks second in the conference in passing yards (306) and senior Elijah Marks ranks third in receiving yards (147). The running back tandem of junior Cory Young (115.0) and sophomore Joe Logan (101.0) ranks first and second in rushing yards per game and the only two conference rushers with more total yards have played two games already.

FBS Marks the Spot: Senior Elijah Marks loves the bright lights of the FBS as his two-best career games have been against in-state Pac-12 foes Arizona State and Arizona over the last two seasons. One year after setting a career-high with 174 receiving yards and a touchdown versus Arizona State, the Goodyear, Ariz. product once again showed what the big boys missed out on with a standout game against Arizona on Sept. 2. Marks led the 'Jacks with 147 receiving yards on eight receptions for his second-highest yard total of his career.

Our Dome, Our Home: NAU's overall success this season could very well depend on how it conquers the rigorous travel in the Big Sky Conference because over the last four years, the Lumberjacks have taken care of business at home. Since 2013, the 'Jacks have won 17 of 21 games in the Walkup Skydome. In this span, NAU has averaged 39 points per game and has an average margin of victory of 21.1 points. In the last two years, the Lumberjacks have averaged 48 points per game in the Dome and have scored 21 or more points in 10 straight home contests.

Home Opener History: The Lumberjacks have won 24 consecutive home openers dating all the way back to 1993. They are 78-22-2 all-time in home openers.

Challenge Accepted: The Big Sky Conference and the Missouri Valley Conference have been the FCS' most successful conferences in recent history, and in 2017, bragging rights are on the line with the announcement of the Challenge Series. The two leagues will match up eight times this season, with NAU set to compete in two of them versus Western Illinois on Sept. 9 and Illinois State on Oct. 7. The Lumberjacks are one of two Big Sky schools - North Dakota being the other - to have multiple MVFC teams on their 2017 slate.

About Western Illinois: Western Illinois is ranked No. 22 in the STATS FCS Top 25 poll this week and is first among teams receiving votes in the FCS Coaches Poll. The Fighting Leathernecks are 1-0 after a convincing 41-14 victory last Saturday on the road at Tennessee Tech. In the game, Western Illinois scored the first 34 points and Tennessee Tech did not score until the fourth quarter. Western Illinois churned out 298 rushing yards with Max Norris doing the bulk of the damage. He carried it 19 times and gained 133 yards, averaging 7.0 yards per carry. Sean McGuire only needed to complete 10-of-20 passes for 130 yards in the win. Jaelon Acklin was the recipient of McGuire's lone touchdown toss and overall recorded a team-high five receptions and 79 receiving yards. Tennessee Tech was held to just 252 yards of total offense, and zero net rushing yards. Quentin Moon was a big reason for that as he was named MVFC Defensive Player of the Week following 10 tackles, a forced fumble, one fumbled recovered, a sack and 3.5 tackles for loss. Western Illinois forced three turnovers with two interceptions and a fumble recovery. The Fighting Leathernecks also notched three sacks and held Tennessee Tech to just 2-for-12 on third down conversions.