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 54 games played against Benedictine. The Muskies blew away Concordia last season with a 63-7 win on the road in River Forest. Lakeland featured seven different players scoring touchdowns including three on defense, with Rayshion Brumfield and Shazon Crutcher returning interceptions for scores and Matt Glogowski running back a fumble 48 yards for six points. The Cougars had snapped a six-game losing streak in the series in the previous meeting with a 31-26 victory at home Oct. 5, 2019. The Muskies' last home win over CUC was a 61-28 victory on Homecoming Sept. 29, 2018, when Lakeland scored 41 first half points and then pulled 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 to Benedictine 23-14 last week
The Muskies nearly rallied from a 17-0 deficit before a go-ahead drive in the fourth quarter fizzled out and the Eagles added on a touchdown late. It was another game where a young and banged-up Lakeland team played well for stretches and was even flat-out in control in some ways, outgaining the guests 462-276. A few plays would have a huge effect, though, with a Muskies' touchdown called back, a pair of field goals missed, a 4th-and-9 conversion leading to a Benedictine touchdown and a 37-yard pass in the fourth quarter accounting for nearly half of the Eagles' passing yardage and leading to the final touchdown. Robby Michael passed for 204 yards and rushed for 173 yards, Chris Crawford posted career highs with five catches for 106 yards, and Andrew Cardiel led the defense with 13 tackles.

Concordia last time out: Defeated Rockford 37-13 last week
The Cougars were victorious on their Homecoming, scoring two touchdowns in the first quarter and never trailing in cruising past the Regents. Troy Pratley passed for 120 yards and two touchdowns and E'derian Sykes rushed for 70 yards and a score and also caught six passes for 96 yards, a performance that would net him Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors. The Concordia defense also intercepted four Rockford passes, including interception returns for touchdowns of 88 yards by Brandon Montford and 45 yards by Travon Thomas.

About the Cougars: Concordia Chicago enters with a 2-4 record, having also defeated Finlandia (Mich.) 45-7 in September. The Cougars have played five of their first six games at home but struggled offensively until last week, scoring 41 points combined in their four losses. CUC finished 3-7 overall last year and 1-7 in the NACC and is coached by Andy Lambert, a 26-year coaching veteran in his second year with the Cougars. Concordia hasn't posted a winning record overall or in the NACC since finishing 10-1 in 2012 and winning the conference with a perfect 7-0 record.

Numbers still lying: The Muskies' record says 0-5, but statistics indicate a team in much better shape in its first five games. Lakeland has now outgained four of its five opponents, and for the season is outgaining its opponents by 67 yards per game. The Muskies also have posted more first downs than their opponent in four of their five games and hold a 109-94 edge in first downs this season. Lakeland's offense also has possesed the ball considerably more than its opponents, having run 437 plays to opponents' 351.

Ready for a breakthrough? The Muskies have had an uneven start offensively, with  young and inexperienced talent at skill positions plus injuries affecting continuity, but the unit showed signs of improvement last week. The 462 yards of offense were the team's second-most this season, behind 563 yards of offense against Buena Vista that were powered by 395 yards rushing. The offense also showed its most balance this season, though, with 258 yards rushing and 204 yards passing. Lakeland also left several plays on the field in the passing game that could've easily pushed it past its previous best passing day of 240 yards in the first five games. Lakeland's average yards per completion also is up considerably in the last two games, with the Muskies averaging 7.2 yards per attempt of late after averaging just 3.3 yards/attempt the first three games.

Muskies on Homecoming: Homecoming has far more often than not in the past been a very good day for Lakeland football. The Muskies have a superb 60-21-3 all-time record in Homecoming games, including last year defeating Wisconsin Lutheran 56-7 to improve to 13-1 in their last 14 Homecoming games. This also is the seventh time Lakeland has hosted Concordia Chicago for Homecoming, and the Muskies have won all six previous meetings, including most recently a win in 2018, while the first came way back on Oct. 18, 1947 and was a 20-0 Lakeland win.

Michael's on pace: Lakeland freshman quarterback Robby Michael has now rushed for at least 100 yards in three of the Muskies' first five games, giving him 519 yards rushing this season. He is on pace to become Lakeland's eighth 1,000-yard rusher in a season in school history, as well as the fourth in the last four years after Larry Rivers (2019 and 2021) and Dezmon Eddie (2019) also accomplished the feat. Michael also has 682 yards passing, and if he continues at the same pace over the final five games he would become the first Muskie ever to top 1,000 yards passing and 1,000 yards rushing in a season.