With the Gateway Conference season cruising into its fourth week, the league is tightly bunched all the way down the standings. SIUC will host Southwest Missouri State this week as league heats up.

The key battle outside Carbondale will be Saturday in Cedar Falls, Iowa Saturday when the Gateway’s two unbeatens butt heads.

Indiana State at Northern Iowa

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The Panthers expected to be at the top this season, the Sycamores did not. Indiana State, a school that was picked to finish sixth in the preseason conference poll, is winning with the 27th-ranked scoring offense in the nation averaging 30 points a game. The Sycamores star tailback, David Wright, became the league’s all-time leading rusher last week when he rumbled through Southwest Missouri State’s defense for 153 yards. He know has 3,820 career rushing yards, while former Illinois State running back Toby Davis is second with 3,702.

While Indiana State (5-1, 3-0) is only fourth in the league in total defense (giving up 299 yard per game), the Sycamores are giving up only 16 points a game, second best in the conference.

Northern Iowa (3-2, 2-0) is coming off a big win against previously undefeated Eastern Illinois 17-7. The Panthers continue to excel on the offensive end of the ball averaging 357 yards per game.

The Panthers have won 19-straight conference games and lead the series with Indiana State 8-3.

Kick-off at the UNI Dome is at 6:30 p.m.

Western Illinois at Illinois State

Western Illinois (2-3, 0-2) hopes being off last week will break a two-game Gateway losing streak. The once powerful Leatherneck offense has only able to muster20 points in the two games, while giving up a league-high 68 points. Even with the poor point-production Western is averaging 31 points a game overall, which is tops in the conference.

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Illinois State (2-4, 1-1) is looking to rebound from a 14-11 loss at SIUC last Saturday. Offense has been the problem for the Redbirds as they have only scored nine touchdowns and average just 15 points per game.

The WIU-ISU rivalry is the second longest in the Gateway, with the Leathernecks holding a slim 38-35-3 edge in the series

Game time in Normal is 1:30 p.m.

Eastern Illinois (5-1, 1-1) goes out of conference this week when the Panthers travel to Bowling Green, Ky. to take of Western Kentucky (2-4).