The Muskies and Green Knights are separated by just over 50 miles but four of their previous six meetings have come in the last four years, since St. Norbert joined the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference in 2021. St. Norbert has won the last three over Lakeland, including a 55-13 victory in De Pere last year on Nov. 9, 2024 that included a 41-7 halftime lead. SNC also won the last meeting at Taylor Field, holding on for a 24-21 win on the Muskies' Homecoming Sept. 30, 2023 as the Green Knights built a 14-0 first quarter lead and stayed a step ahead the rest of the way.

Lakeland's only win in the series came in 2021 with a dominant 40-8 victory at home as the Muskies forced eight turnovers in SNC's first game as a NACC member, six of those in the first half on the way to a 33-0 halftime lead. That was the first meeting between the schools in nearly 60 years, since St. Norbert won the two previous meetings in back-to-back years in 1961 and 1962, including a 25-0 win at Lakeland Oct. 7, 1961 in the first meeting and then a 42-0 shutout Sept. 22, 1962 in De Pere. There have been two other meetings between the schools involving the Muskies' varsity. Lakeland, then known as Mission House College, hosted the St. Norbert freshman team in consecutive years in 1938 and 1939 and picked up two close wins by scores of 14-13 in 1938 and then 19-12 a year later.

Lakeland last time out: Defeated Eureka 40-12 last week
The Muskies for the second week in a row jumped all over their opponent in the first half, this time building a 33-6 lead by halftime and cruising the rest of the way. Jontae Lambert rushed for 120 yards and a score, Hassan Rivers scored on three short touchdown runs, and Robby Michael passed for 277 yards and two touchdowns, including a 57-yarder to Caden Kleparski plus a 13-yard touchdown to Jeremy Kobe, the duo's team-leading sixth passing touchdown connection this season. The Lakeland defense also intercepted three Red Devils passes, including Zelmarious Banks with his sixth INT and Markese Collins with his fourth pick of the season. The Muskies dominated on both sides of the ball, outgaining Eureka 516-122 to outgain their opponent for the eighth time in nine games.

St. Norbert last time out: Lost at Aurora 37-14 last week
The Green Knights struggled offensively against the Spartans on the road last week, falling behind 21-0 and unable to get on the board until scoring two fourth quarter touchdowns. St. Norbert missed a field goal on its first drive and was shut out on its next seven drives as well, with three drives ending in punts and three more on downs. The Green Knights defense largely shut down the Spartans after Aurora built a 13-0 halftime lead, including forcing three straight turnovers in the third quarter, but the Spartans added a safety in the fourth quarter and scored 16 straight points to put the game out of reach. Michael Meneguzzo completed 28 of 47 passes for 219 yards and two touchdowns, Jacob McVane caught 10 passes for 60 yards and Will Darden rushed for 70 yards. 

About the Green Knights: The loss last week snapped a four-game winning streak that had propelled St. Norbert into second place in the NACC and in contention for a berth in the Lakeshore Bowl for the third straight year. SNC is now in a three-way tie with Aurora and Benedictine for second, with all three teams 1-1 against each other. Like Lakeland, St. Norbert has played a number of close games in conference, defeating Wisconsin Lutheran by three and Benedictine by seven while losing to conference champion Concordia Wisconsin by seven back in early October.

Last chance for seniors: Saturday marks the final home game for 12 Lakeland seniors. Making their final appearance for the Blue and Gold will be Jatron Bevly, Markese Collins, Parker Giese, Monroe Hobbs, Austin Holmes, Jeremy Kobe, Robby Michael, Shamond Oliver, Vyron Rosquist-Wallace, Benji Smith, Evan Soto and Brekkan Spens. Michael and Bevly will both leave with school records, including Michael holding the school mark in total offense and Bevly with the most rushing yards in a game in school history, accomplished as a freshman against Buena Vista.

High in the ranks: Lakeland will not finish the season with the overall record it hoped for, but statistically the Muskies will finish ranking high in NCAA Division III in a number of categories. Lakeland enters the finale fourth in D-III in total first downs (248), 12th in total offense (488.7 ypg) and 19th in passing offense (299.0 ypg). Trayvonne Roberts also is still tied for the national lead in fumble recoveries (4) and Zelmarious Banks is second in total interceptions (6) and interceptions per game (0.67). Michael also is second in total offense (379.7 ypg), 10th in points responsible for (192), 11th in points responsible for per game (21.3) and 12th in passing yards (2,680) and passing yards/game (297.8).

Quality first season for McKynzee: McKynzee Schepp's first year as the Muskies placekicker is on track to rate well in Lakeland's football history among kickers. Schepp enters the season finale having made 30 of 34 point-after-touchdown kicks, good for 88.2% accuracy. That is the second-best percentage for a Lakeland kicker in a full season in the last 11 years, bettered only by Peyton Domangue hitting 53 of 59 PAT kicks in 2021 (89.8%). Including Ramsey Riehl hitting 32 of 36 in 2013 (88.9%), Schepp has the third-best mark percentage by a Muskie in the last 20 years, and she enters the season finale tied for second in made PATs in the NACC and fourth in extra-point kick accuracy.