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FACTS & STATS: Site: Kelly/Shorts Stadium (30,255) -- Mount Pleasant, Michigan. Television: ESPN3.com. Home Record: NIU 2-1, CMU 1-0. Away Record: NIU 0-1, CMU 0-3. Neutral Record: NIU 0-0, CMU 0-1. Conference Record: NIU 0-0, CMU 0-1. Series Record: Central Michigan leads, 24-21-1.

GAME NOTES: Northern Illinois will begin Mid-American Conference play this Saturday afternoon when the Huskies travel to Kelly/Shorts Stadium to take on the Central Michigan Chippewas.

The Huskies went a perfect 8-0 in league play last year, but in the league title game they were defeated by Miami-Ohio. Now under the leadership of Dave Doeren, the Huskies are looking to get back and this Saturday's matchup is the first step in a long journey. Up to this point the Huskies have sandwiched losses to Kansas (45-42) and Wisconsin (49-7) with victories over Army (49-26) and Cal Poly (47-30).

As for the Chippewas, they were the class of the conference just a few years ago, but the team took a large step back last year and is now already 0-1 in 2011. That loss came against Western Michigan as Central Michigan lost three straight matchups since opening the year with a victory over South Carolina State (21-6).

This will be the 46th meeting between Northern Illinois and Central Michigan and the 14th straight year they have met. The Chippewas own a slim 24-21-1 edge over the Huskies, but Northern Illinois snapped a three-game slide against CMU last year with a 33-7 decision.

After posting just seven points in a loss to Wisconsin, the Huskies got back to what they do best in their win over Cal Poly and that is running the football. Northern Illinois, which is averaging 223.8 ypg on the season, rumble for 356 yards in the win over the Mustangs.

Leading the charge was Jasmin Hopkins, as the tailback finished with 143 yards and two touchdowns. However, like always quarterback Chandler Harnish abused the opposing defense as well, rushing for 118 yards and one score. Along with his production on the ground, Harnish threw for 187 yards and two touchdowns on 18-of-21 efficiency.

Harnish is the key to NIU's offense, as the quarterback can pick apart a defense with his arm, or run them in circles. So far the veteran gunslinger has completed over 70.0 percent of his throws for 861 yards and nine touchdowns. More importantly Harnish is smart with the football and has thrown just one interception.

The dual threat has also racked up 285 rushing yards and a team-best five rushing touchdowns. While Harnish is the top passer on the team, he plays second fiddle to Hopkins in terms of running the ball. The senior tailback has posted 335 yards and four touchdowns thus far and is averaging an impressive 6.3 yards per attempt.

The success for the offense has been the downfall of the defense, as the team is being dismantled by the run. Through four games, the Huskies are allowing 279.8 yards per matchup and have already allowed 13 rushing touchdowns.

Even though the Huskies won by 17 points last week, the defense still found it tough trying to stop the run, as Cal Poly blasted coach Doeren's squad for 297 yards and three touchdowns.

The Huskies were able to force two turnovers in the contest, which softened the blow, but eventually their inability to stop opponents in this area will cost the team victories.

Not everything has been bad, thanks to the play of Jimmie Ward and Pat Schiller. Ward is leading the team with 35 tackles, while Schiller has collected 32 stops to go along with five TFLs.

Central Michigan's offense continues to sputter this year, as the team tallied just seven points in a loss to Michigan State. During the team's three-game losing skid the Chippewas have totaled just 34 points.

Ryan Radcliff has struggled on the year, completing just 50.4 percent of his passes for only 765 yards. Radcliff comes into this game with only four touchdowns against six interceptions, and two of those picks came in the team's recent loss to Michigan State.

Radcliff did throw a touchdown, but finished with just 87 yards on 11-of-29 passing. Clearly Radcliff has not done his part for the offense, but coach Dan Enos needs to rely heavily on him because the rushing attack has also struggled to get going.

Against the Spartans the Chippewas were held to just 21 yards on 1.2 yards per attempt. However, that effort is not surprising considering the team is posting just 86.0 yards per game. Tim Phillips has been the top option, but he has just 158 yards and only one score on 3.6 yards per tote.

CMU is struggling to score, but opponents are having a much easier time. This unit did nothing right in the loss to Michigan State, as the Spartans gashed the Chips for 197 yards on the ground and torched them for another 284 yards through the air.

Coach Enos has plenty to figure out defensively, but the most important aspect of any good defense is stopping the run, which has clearly been a problem. Through four games teams are netting 143.2 ypg and have found the end zone seven times on the ground.

The Chippewas will certainly have a tough task this weekend against Northern Illinois and it will be interesting to see if this unit can step up to the challenge.

The Chippewas might be home, but that won't factor too much into the outcome. The Huskies are too strong offensively and considering Central Michigan cannot score, Northern Illinois should run away with this game.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Northern Illinois 31, Central Michigan 13