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Series: 55th meeting, Lakeland leads 39-15
The Muskies and Cougars meet again in a series that dates back to 1947 and as of Saturday is tied with the series against Benedictine for Lakeland's most-played rivalry on the gridiron. The Muskies have won three straight over Concordia, including a 17-9 win last year at Lakeland. A bizarre game saw the Muskies score 11 of their 17 points on defense and special teams, including a fumble return for a touchdown by Jayson Wilder and safeties by Jacob Foster and Hassan Rivers. Lakeland also blitzed CUC in their last matchup down in River Forest, scoring a 63-7 win Oct. 16, 2021 as Larry Rivers rushed for three touchdowns and Shazon Crutcher, Rayshion Brumfield and Matt Glogowski all scored defensive touchdowns. The Muskies have won nine of the last 10 against CUC, though the Cougars snapped a six-game losing streak in the series with a 31-26 victory at home Oct. 5, 2019. The first meeting between the teams came nearly 77 years ago on Oct. 18, 1947, a 20-0 win for Lakeland when it was known as Mission House College.

Lakeland last time out: Lost at UW-Platteville 65-0 Sept 7
The Muskies were idle last week, the result of a scheduling mix-up on an opponent's end that saw a previously scheduled non-conference game canceled. Lakeland in its opener two weeks ago faced a tough task and lost on the road against a powerful Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opponent. Platteville scored eight of its nine touchdowns on drives of three plays or less and the Muskies were held to 134 yards of offense, including minus-27 yards rushing after the Pioneers posted eight sacks. Robby Michael completed 15 of 33 passes for 161 yards, Kolby Cohen caught five passes for 73 yards and Keon Willis added three catches for 54 yards. Freshman Michael Dye provided one of the few defensive highlights with his first collegiate interception.

Concordia last time out: Defeated Manchester (Ind.) 28-27 last week
The Cougars scored the go-ahead points with 1:57 left in the game, with a 3-yard touchdown pass from Colton Bosch to Jayce Levy and the extra-point kick giving CUC its first win of the season and the first career victory for first-year coach Chase Hankins. The Cougars held a 21-6 lead after three quarters before the Spartans rallied for a 27-21 lead before Concordia mounted its game-winning drive. Bosch completed 17 of 30 passes for 194 yards and three touchdowns, Levy caught all three touchdown passes and Joron Brown added 113 yards rushing, his second straight 100-yard game on the ground. 

About the Cougars: Concordia Chicago has a new coach this year in Hankins, who took over a team that finished 1-9 last year, the program's worst season since back-to-back 0-10 marks in 2004 and 2005. The Cougars do return an experienced team, as last year's squad had no graduating seniors. Bosch has taken over the quarterback spot and has thrown for five touchdowns in two games this year, and Brown has gained 263 yards rushing through two games. CUC has moved the ball well with a 53-39 advantage in first downs over its opponents so far, though opponents are averaging 501.5 yards of offense through two games including 227.0 on the ground.

One yard away: Robby Michael enters Saturday's game needing exactly one yard to reach 5,000 yards of career total offense as a Muskie. Michael enters the game with 4,999 yards rushing and passing, and he would've been well over the mark if not for the NCAA rule that credits sacks as rushing yards lost. Michael finished with 19 carries for -50 yards against UW-Platteville, a mark hampered by eight sacks for a total of 80 yards when he was in the game. Michael comes into Saturday with 3,374 career yards passing and 1,625 yards rushing, as well as a combined 36 touchdowns (20 passing, 16 rushing).