What: CUC football v. Wisconsin Lutheran
Where: Concordia Stadium, River Forest, IL
When: Saturday. Nov. 2 at 1:00

This Saturday will be the "first finale" for 10 CUC senior football players. Although the true ending won't come for another two weeks when the Cougars play at Benedictine, this week's game against Wisconsin Lutheran will be the last time in the familiar setting of Concordia Stadium in front of family and friends.

"I'm not sure some people get what an amazing feat it is that a college football player can play four years, no matter what level," says CUC head coach Jason Aubry. "There's a number of challenges along the way, from just staying in school to finding the time for football to staying free of injuries. If you can stand up to the challenges and make it through four years, it's a special thing, and I commend all those who can do it."

There is no doubt that everyone would like to attach a win to the Senior Day celebration and gift-wrap it for the 10 CUC men that will be honored prior to kickoff on Saturday. Although last week's 34-15 loss to Concordia Wisconsin dropped the Cougars to 4-3 on the season, two wins over the final three games will clinch the team's first winning season since the NCAA III playoff season of 2012 - a nice "going-away present", if you will.

Twice this season, the Cougars have come off a loss with a strong week of practice, followed by a resounding win the following Saturday. As the Cougars attempt to repeat this pattern after the third loss of the season, Aubry reports that "this has been perhaps our best week of practice of the year. Things are clicking and guys are having fun, and I believe one of the reasons is because we make it more than just football. We try to help them be winners not only on the football field on Saturdays but also be winners every day on campus. And when they feel that, the winning on the field tends to be one of the by-products."

This week, Concordia-Chicago prepares for a Wisconsin Lutheran team that comes in with a 1-6 overall record, 1-3 in the NACC. At first glance, the Warriors appear similar to last week's opponent, the CUW Falcons in some areas of defense and a pass-oriented offense. However, the Cougars will hope to take advantage of some personnel match-ups this week, while the dry forecast for Saturday should improve the team's chances of being able to execute their game plan better than they did a week ago. 

For Wisconsin Lutheran, the player to watch is junior Mykael Ignaszak. The defensive back/linebacker was named to the d3football.com Team of the Week for his effort last Saturday. Ignaszak made 16 tackles (10 solo) and recovered two fumbles, one of which he took to the house from 19 yards out for the Warriors' only score in a 39-6 loss to Lakeland. Ignazak is currently second in the NACC with 13.0 tackles per game. Other names of note on WLC's defense include Ty Castillo with 73 tackles (41 solo) and three forced fumbles, and Zach Brug with 33 tackles (19 solo) and a team-leading five QB sacks,

On offense, the Warriors start a freshman quarterback who has accounted for 78 percent of his team's offensive yards. Nick Yockey has thrown for 1478 yards on 114 of 237 with 13 touchdowns versus 10 INTs. Alan Jackson is the Warriors' leading rusher with 227 yards and the team's only two rushing touchdowns.

For CUC, Lance Moise needs 39 yards to go over the 1,000-yard mark for the third of his four seasons. The senior back is currently 10th in NCAA Division III for rushing yards, tied for first with 17 rushing touchdowns and first in scoring with 15.4 points per game. His current career rushing record stands at 4,374 yards with three games remaining.

The last few games have seen the Cougars utilize some new plays and formations for quarterbacks Jaxon Aubry and Griffin Beaudette, with the intent of creating chances for the Cougars' multiple receivers. Last week, it was Semaj James with one of his busier days of the season, catching five passes for 68 yards.

Defensively, Tyler Dudley is coming off two very strong efforts. Last week, he made 13 tackles (six solo) and an interception which was returned 40 yards. Dudley had an INT in the previous game at Eureka, and he now leads the team in that category with three. With his recent efforts, Dudley has cracked the NACC's top ten in tackles, with his 8.6 per game currently the ninth best mark. 

Links to live coverage of the game can be found at www.cucougars.com/coverage. The pregame for the live stream begins at 12:45, followed by Ryan Fahey's play by play.