The Nicholls State football team will take on their first Southland Conference opponent Northwestern State in the Hall of Fame game this Saturday at John L. Guidry Stadium.

The Northwestern State Demons will come to town with their 1-2 record as they lost two games in a row to Louisiana State University and Southern Methodist University. The Demons lost to LSU in week two 49-3 and to SMU last week 40-7.

Head coach Charlie Stubbs believes that a big crowd would be a huge advantage for the team and would help the team perform better on the field.

“It would be a big advantage for our team,” Stubbs said. “It would be the twelfth man. In my own opinion, the larger the audience and the crowd, the more the players should be motivated—not only to win, but to play well. Playing in front of a large amount of people, it doesn’t take a whole lot to motivate them.”

The Colonels fell to 1-2 this past weekend when they lost to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette 38-21. The Colonels were underdogs heading into the game as they were taking on a Football Subdivision opponent, but Nicholls hung with the Ragin’ Cajuns for most of the game.

The Colonels were tied with the Ragin’ Cajuns in the second quarter at 14-14 after Nicholls fumbled on their first two possessions of the ball. It was a closely contested football game up until the Ragin’ Cajuns returned a blocked field goal and an interception for touchdowns.

In the loss, sophomore running back Marcus Washington had 98 yards on 16 carries including a rushing touchdown. Stubbs selected Washington as a captain for the game because of his physical play against Western Michigan. Stubbs said Washington “ran really hard and made some tremendous runs.”

Washington had to step up and become the feature back for the Colonels after the Colonels No. 1 tailback last year, junior Jesse Turner, spent the entire season still rehabbing from the leg injury he suffered a year ago.

Stubbs said Turner had his first week of full pads right before the ULL game and will make sure he’s ready to go before inserting him back into the lineup.  

“It’s more than just the injury that he’s recovering from, you have to work through the psychological part of it because it is a physical game,” Stubbs said. “We’re going to bring him along. Once I, trainers and Jesse himself thinks he’s ready, then we’ll get him going again.”

The Colonels’ search of winning the conference championship for the second time in history begins this Saturday at 3 p.m.