In his second year in Natchitoches, Northwestern State head coach Jay Thomas has accomplished a couple of things that have endeared him to the Demons’ fan base rather quickly.

Item one was bringing the largest trophy in college football, Chief Caddo, back to town last season after a four-year stay at Stephen F. Austin.

This fall Northwestern upped the ante by beating its oldest former rival, Louisiana Tech, for the first time since 1979 in the first meeting between the two in 20 years.

That leaves two major goals on Thomas’ docket: beating McNeese for the first time in 10 years, and contending for a conference title. If the Demons (4-4, 2-2 Southland) are able to accomplish the first task on Saturday, they’ll put themselves back into a position to accomplish the latter with some help.

“It’s always been a big game,” Thomas said. “It’s always a special game no matter whether it’s in Lake Charles or here. It’s a game where you’ve got to play your best. They’re going to make you bring out your best coaching effort and playing effort. It’s still a big game for us and for them.”

Like McNeese, Northwestern enters the week with significant health concerns. As the scoreboard would indicate, the Demons were without their top two defensive players for the majority of last week’s 58-35 loss at Central Arkansas.

Defensive tackle Deon Simon missed the game after spraining a knee in practice, and cornerback Imoan Claiborne didn’t play after the second quarter due to injury.

“Claiborne and Simon are day to day,” Thomas said. “We’ll see how it goes towards Saturday.”

Offensively, the Demons are more balanced than a season ago with former McNeese offensive coordinator Ben Norton at the helm. While still employing the spread with quarterback Zach Adkins flinging it for 1,782 yards, Northwestern is more dedicated to the run.

The Demons have a mix of three backs — Ben Atzenweiler, De’Mard Llorens and Ronald Green — who each average more than 40 yards per game. Northwestern rushed for 390 yards against an Incarnate Word defense that played stoutly against McNeese’s run game.

“Ben’s brought in some two-back stuff, and they have a little more physical mentality running the football,” said McNeese head coach Matt Viator. “He’s combined some of the stuff we used to do here running the ball with the spread element. I think they have a nice balance on offense that I really like a lot.”(MGNonline)