Fresh off a 45-3 win against the last-place team in the Mid-American Conference, the degree of difficulty shoots up for the NIU football team when the Huskies host first-place Western Michigan on Tuesday.

Jalen Macon led a resurgent NIU offense with four touchdowns in his first career start as the Huskies beat UMass in their best offensive performance of the season.

The two worst scoring offenses in the country will face off Wednesday when the NIU football team heads to UMass. The Huskies are 133rd nationally, averaging 12.2 points per game, while the Minutemen are 134th at 11.3 points per game.

It’s been one of those years for Northern Illinois.  Very little has gone right for the 2-7 Huskies, and the bad news on Wednesday began as soon as the ball was kicked off in a 42-3 loss to Toledo.

NIU was outplayed in all three phases at Toledo on Wednesday night, resulting in a humbling 42-3 loss at the Glass Bowl. The issues began with allowing former Huskie Trayvon Rudolph to return the opening kickoff for a touchdown.

The NIU football team heads to Toledo on Wednesday to take on the Rockets, the last scheduled meeting between the two teams ahead of the Huskies leaving the Mid-American Conference at the end of the school year.

NIU got a double-double from 6-11 true freshman post Gustav Winther, a 10-assist, zero-turnover game from Gianni Cobb and an efficiency clinic from Jao Ituka off the bench in a 102-82 win over Louisiana-Monroe in the season opener on Monday.

"We came in and chose violence." NIU ran 57 times for 305 yards, including 37 carries and 166 yards for Chavon Wright, in a 21-7 win against Ball State on Saturday.

NIU snapped a six-game losing streak and knocked off Ball State 21-7 on Saturday, claiming the Bronze Stalk in the last currently scheduled meeting between the schools.