The location has finally changed, but the game’s significance has not. This marks the fifth consecutive year that Monmouth and St. Norbert have been unbeaten in the league at the time of their meeting. The first two results were 38-15 and 55-19 St. Norbert victories in 2003 and 2004. Two years ago in Wisconsin, the Scots shocked the green and gold faithful, coming from behind to win 28-20 en route to a 10-0 regular season. Last year, the Knights regained their throne, thumping the Scots 48-0 at home as part of their undefeated regular season. It was St. Norbert’s eighth MWC title in the past nine seasons, and the Knights also defeated the Scots in three consecutive MWC title games from 1987-89.

Both teams are currently 4-0 in the MWC. St. Norbert enters the game with a 5-0 overall record and is ranked as high as 24th in one national poll. The Scots are 4-1, with their lone loss coming against the nation’s No. 10 team, Wartburg.

"There are certainly implications for this game based on what’s happened in the past," said Monmouth head coach Steve Bell, whose team posted a 42-0 win over Grinnell last week. "But we know we’ve still got some very good teams left to play after St. Norbert, and their coach said the same thing (in a feature article on D3Football.com). We’ve got to be at our best to beat them. We can’t be anything less than that. I can’t sugarcoat it any other way."

Monmouth certainly enters this year’s contest on a roll. The Scots’ first-string defense has not allowed a touchdown since the season opener, a span of four-plus games. Monmouth is now the top unit in the league in points allowed, surrendering just 9.0 per game. St. Norbert, which has won 22 consecutive regular season games, enters the contest as the MWC’s highest-scoring team at 38.8.

"I feel really good going into this game and I feel that we’ll play well," said Bell. "Coming into the game, the speed that our defense is playing at and the technique they’re using is where we need to be right now, and we’d like to even kick it up a notch."

An extra gear might be needed to stop the Knights’ pass-catch tandem of seniors Cody Craig and Judd O’Connell. Craig is the MWC’s top quarterback with 1,294 passing yards and 17 touchdowns, while O’Connell has 31 catches for 688 yards and seven scores.

"Throwing the ball has been our forte as of today," St. Norbert coach Jim Purtill told D3Football.com. "We’re a better throwing team than running team to date."

Although the stats bear that out, running back A.J. Phillips does lead the conference in scoring with 10.5 points per game. Phillips is a threat running and catching the ball out of the backfield, and he also is the Knights’ main return man.

"They’re so multiple offensively that if you get too focused on stopping one thing, there’s many other things that can hurt you," said Bell. "We’ve got to be very sound defensively, because St. Norbert is the type of team that will exploit incorrect technique."

Of course, not all of the Knights’ points have come from their offense. John Rappel picked off two passes last week against Knox and brought them back for scores during St. Norbert’s 49-14 victory. He earned the MWC Defensive Performer of the Week honor for his efforts, edging out Monmouth’s Sean Wells, who had three interceptions, including one for a score, against Grinnell.

While the Scots’ stingy defense vs. the Knights’ well-oiled offensive machine will draw much of the attention, the reverse matchup could ultimately decide the game. It will be an interesting battle, as Monmouth is the second-highest scoring team in the league and St. Norbert has the No. 2 scoring defense. Will Jeff Davis (475 rushing yards) or Clay Bricker be able to find running room? Can freshman quarterback Alex Tanney (116-of-175, 1,196 yards) continue to pass productively and protect the football?

Protecting the football didn’t happen a year ago, as Monmouth had a whopping eight turnovers and St. Norbert won going away.

"That in itself was telltale of the game a year ago," said Bell. "It doesn’t matter how good you are or how good they are, you can’t turn the ball over like that. We’ve done a pretty good job of protecting the ball to this point, and it better stay the same Saturday. Hopefully, the game will come down to other issues besides turnovers."

Tanney has thrown just one interception in his college career and has eight TD passes. His efficiency rating of 137.6 is third in the league, one spot behind Craig (162.0). Tanney’s top receiver, Kyle Wantland, has 29 catches for 302 yards, while Bobby Gibbs is close behind with 28 catches for 264 yards.

Wantland was on the receiving end of one of Tanney’s three TD passes last week, catching an eight-yard pass early in the third quarter. Also scoring off the pass were fullback Jess Miller and tight end Kramer Matzen. Davis and Bricker, who rushed 131 and 87 yards, respectively, added the other two offensive scores.

Besides a 478-128 edge in yardage, Monmouth also had a huge advantage in time of possession, especially early in the game. The Scots had first-quarter scoring drives of 5:09 and 6:26, while Grinnell went three-and-out twice and had a turnover on its first three possessions. Extending Monmouth’s first two drives were three fourth-down conversions, including the TD pass to Matzen.

"I thought we needed to establish that we could get a critical down mentally," Bell told the Galesburg Register-Mail following the game. "The only way to do it is to strap it up and try. Hopefully we can learn from it. You have to put yourself in that situation if you’re going to expect it in a big game."

In terms of the regular season, there is no bigger game for Monmouth and St. Norbert than this Saturday’s showdown.