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Series: 52nd meeting, Lakeland leads 36-15
The Muskies and Cougars meet again in a series that dates back to 1947 and is Lakeland's second-longest running  rivalry on the gridiron, behind only 53 games played against Benedictine. The Muskies had won six straight over Concordia until the Cougars won the most recent meeting by a 31-26 score Oct. 5, 2019 in River Forest. Larry Rivers rushed for 168 yards and two touchdowns but Lakeland committed three turnovers and fell behind 31-13 in the fourth quarter before a late comeback came up short. The Muskies' last win over CUC was a 61-28 victory on Homecoming Sept. 29, 2018, when Lakeland scored 41 first half points and then pulling away again after the Cougars drew within 41-28 early in the third quarter. Dezmon Eddie caught a school-record four touchdown passes and set career highs with 13 receptions for 146 yards.

Lakeland last time out: Lost at Benedictine 54-40 last week
The Muskies jumped out to an early lead but the Eagles scored 35 unanswered points over the second and third quarters to give Lakeland its first loss of the season. Scoring wasn't a problem as the Muskies built a 26-12 lead early in the second quarter and had big games from Charl'Tez Nunnery, Brice Kensey and Larry Rivers. Nunnery passed for four touchdowns and hooked up with Kensey 13 times for 194 yards and three touchdowns, all career highs for the senior wideout. Rivers also rushed for 131 yards and a touchdown added six catches for 61 yards and another score. The Lakeland defense spent way too much time on the field, though, with Benedictine holding the ball for 41:41, a massive time of possession edge of more than 23 minutes. The Muskies also committed three turnovers and saw another possession end at the Eagles' 1-yard line to end the first half.

Concordia last time out: Lost at Rockford 35-13 last week
The Cougars remained winless in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference with a loss on the road to the Regents. Concordia gained 204 yards rushing and held the ball for more than 34 minutes, but the Cougars suffered from an inability to finish drives. CUC drove into Rockford territory on eight of its nine drives but came away with just 13 points, with three drives ending on downs and another on a missed field goal. Concordia also passed for just 87 yards and Rockford's quick-paced offense gained 27 first downs and generally stayed a step or two ahead of the Cougars throughout the game, including building a 21-10 halftime lead. DeAndre Daniels rushed for 87 yards and a touchdown to lead CUC and quarterback Troy Pratley added 75 yards rushing.

About the Cougars: Concordia got off to a good start to its season with non-conference wins over Beloit and Finlandia by a combined score of 56-9, but the going has been tougher in the NACC, including an ugly 70-0 loss to defending conference champion Aurora to open league play. CUC has led just once in its four NACC games, taking an early 6-0 lead against Eureka before the Red Devils scored 17 second-quarter points and never trailed again. The Cougars also have played five of their first six games on the road, with only a 28-19 loss to Concordia Wisconsin at home.

Concordia has a first-year coach in Andy Lambert, a 25-year coaching veteran who most recently was an assistant at NCAA Division I-A (FCS) Eastern Michigan and has been a head coach at Southern Nazarene (Okla.), Sterling (Kan.) and Trinity International (Ill.). CUC has not had a winning season since taking the NACC championship and finishing 10-1 in 2012, though the Cougars did finish 5-5 in their most recent full season in 2019 under former coach Jason Aubry.

More milestones in sight for Larry: Lakeland running back Larry Rivers continues to set a torrid pace statistically this season, with 800 yards rushing, a 7.8 yard per carry average, 10 rushing touchdowns and 943 all-purpose yards, numbers that all rank among the NCAA Division III leaders. Rivers is on pace to reach a trio of marks very soon, perhaps as soon as his next game. The senior needs 164 yards to reach 4,000 yards for his career, which would make him the first Muskie to reach that mark. He also needs an even 200 yards for 1,000 yards this season, and if he can hit that number he will become the first in Lakeland history to run for 1,000 in two separate seasons, having already set a school record with 1,375 yards rushing in 2019.

Rivers also is on pace to threaten one of the Muskies football program's longest-lasting records. With 11 touchdowns through five games, if he can continue near that pace over the final five games he could reach Pat Curran's record of 21 touchdowns in a season, set by Curran in 1967 and tied by him the next year in 1968.

Shazon doing it all: Lakeland linebacker Shazon Crutcher is leading the team in tackles again, just as he has the previous two seasons. In addition to his 48 tackles, though, which includes 4.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks, he also now is tied for the team lead with two interceptions. Crutcher made his second pick of the season last week against Benedictine, and his two interceptions are the first two of a career that also has him nearing 200 tackles (192 career tackles entering Saturday).

Brice's big day: Wide receiver Brice Kensey has returned from an early-season injury to post two huge games, including his biggest yet last week where he set career highs in receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns. It also was one of the biggest games ever by a Muskie receiver, and arguably the biggest all-round. His 13 catches are tied for the fourth-most ever in Lakeland history, and his 194 receiving yards are the fourth-most by a Muskie. He also is the only Lakeland receiver to reach the top five in those two categories in the same game. The three touchdown receptions also were one off the single-game record set by Dezmon Eddie in 2018 against Concordia Chicago.