Chadron State Head Football Coach Bill O'Boyle said it won't been necessary to give his team a pep talk before the Eagles take the field at Kearney on Thursday night. By now, everyone on the Chadron State team, including those from Colorado, California and Wyoming, know that this is "the big game" of the year for the Eagles. The Chadron State-Nebraska-Kearney rivalry dates back to 1921. While the Antelopes own a whopping 46-19-1 lead in the all-time series, the Eagles have won eight of the last 11 contests, including last year's game, a 31-12 verdict in Chadron. All of the Eagles' first five victories in the recent string were by no more than six points. The same is true of CSC's 28-22 win in 2003. Before the Eagles' won the 1995 game 22-19, Kearney had won 31 of 32 games with the Eagles over a 47-year span. The exception was the 1978 contest that ended 10-10. This year's game will be televised nationally on CSTV and also carried by both Altitude Sports, Channel 29 on the Chadron cable system, and Nebraska Educational Television 2, or Channel 18 in Chadron. Kickoff will be 6:05 p.m. Mountain time. It will be the first time the Eagles have been on national television or been featured on Nebraska ETV. While it remains to be seen whether this year's Chadron State team, which is 7-0, is better than the 2006 model that finished at 12-1 and reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II playoffs, it seems certain that the Antelopes have improved, especially on offense. After going 6-4 last season, Coach Darrell Morris' team is 4-2 and is ripping off 38.7 points and 437.8 yards a game, compared to 20.2 points and 268.1 yards a year ago. "No doubt about it, Kearney has lots of weapons this year," said CSC Defensive Coordinator Todd Auer. "They've got three outstanding receivers, two good running backs, an athletic quarterback and they are big and pretty good up front." "We'll have to play hard and make plays," Auer added. "It will be a big test for us. We'll just have to stay focused." A new quarterback, junior college transfer Dennis Havrilla, is a major reason for the Antelopes' improvement on offense. He has completed 80 of 147 passes for 1,115 yards and 13 touchdowns. He's been intercepted seven times. He also likes to tuck the ball and run. He has carried the ball 66 times for 249 yards. By comparison, CSC's masterful quarterback, Joe McLain, has completed 94 of 154 tosses for 1,284 yards and seven touchdowns in one fewer game. McLain, who is 22-2 as a starter, has been interecepted three times this fall, and is agile enough and received strong enough protection be sacked just eight times in seven games. Havrilla's targets include junior Eric Myrick, who has 27 catches for 440 yards and six touchdowns, and senior Cory Sleeth, who has 21 for 335 yards and three TDs. The Lopers' rushing leader is senior Jake Richards, who has carried 92 times for 548 yards and five TDs, to rank second to CSC's Danny Woodhead on the RMAC rushing charts. Former McCook standout Brendan Leiss has 57 carries for 319 yards and three TD's. Leiss also has caught 12 passes for 139 yards. Kearney is full of trick plays. Since Russ Martin, a former Chadron State linebacker and father of CSC graduate assistant coach Ben Martin, became the UNK offensive coordinator in 2004, something like a dozen players have thrown passes for the Blue and Gold. Martin loves to use end-around passes and even placekicker Geoff Carnahan, who has made all three of his field goal attempts and all 29 extra point tries this fall, is apt to throw a pass. Two of UNK's offensive linemen are familiar to the Eagles. Center Jack Hiett, a preseason all-conference selection, is the older brother of CSC's Tim Hiett and right tackle Orion Matthies, who is 6-7, 330 pounds, was a CSC recruit three years ago. Matthies never showed up at Chadron State, farmed for a couple of years, then joined the UNK team last spring. Defensively, Kearney has given up an average of 302 yards and 19.8 points compared to CSC's 266.1 yards and 7.7 points, but still has a capable unit. Leaders include nosetackle Zach Carise and linebackers Nick Oberle and Cheikh Fall. The Antelopes recently lost another excellent linebacker, Kirk Peterson, to a knee injury. The Eagles, who moved up one notch to No. 3 in the Division II rankings this week, expect to be at nearly full strength for the game. Safety Paul Schweger and linebacker Austin Bailey, the team's leading tacklers, did not play against Fort Lewis on Saturday because of nagging injuries and tailback Danny Woodhead shed his pads at halftime against the Skyhawks because of a leg bruise. But the coaches say all three should be ready to go Thursday night. In addition, Mike Aimone played most of the game at right guard against Fort Lewis after missing the first six games because of a broken bone he suffered in his lower leg just prior to the start of the season. Also making the trip to Kearney will be redshirt freshman John Ritzen of Chadron, who has missed the last three games with a sprained ankle that he suffered while making the tackle on the opening kickoff at Colorado Mines on Sept. 22. Nebraska-Omaha toppled the Antelopes 41-24 in the season opener this year. Mesa State also edged them 19-18 on Sept. 29. But UNK has breezed to victory in its other contests, thumping Wayne State 31-7, Fort Lewis 61-0, Western State 42-18 and Adams State 56-24 in a game in which Havrilla threw five touchdown passes. Both UNO and Mesa State, which the Eagles will host on Saturday, Oct. 27, are undefeated this fall.