With a game already scheduled at Indiana University in 2006, the SIU football team scheduled a game against another Big Ten opponent for the 2008 season.

The athletic department announced Wednesday that the football team has made an agreement with Northwestern University to play the Wildcats at Evanston on Sept. 13, 2008.

SIU athletic director Paul Kowalczyk, who was an assistant athletic director at Northwestern before coming to SIU, said in a press release the game will be a great opportunity for the team to showcase its talents on a big stage.

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“We’re tremendously excited to play Northwestern,” Kowalczyk said. “It’s a school with a proud football past and a recent series of Big Ten championships.”

With the game being played in Evanston, Kowalczyk said SIU alumni from the Chicagoland area will have the opportunity to see Saluki football without driving five hours to Carbondale.

“We’re always trying to reach our fan base in the Chicagoland area,” Kowalczyk said. “We know they’ll be excited about watching us compete in historic Ryan Field.”

Reporter William Ford can be reached at [email protected]