HOUGHTON, Mich. (WLUC) - The Michigan Tech Huskies dominated the rivalry game in 2023, taking the win, 62-0. In 2024, they’ll look to do it again on their home turf.

The Northern Michigan Wildcats find themselves in a similar position to last year at this time: winless.

Neither side sees any need for extra motivation this week.

“It means a lot. I never lost to them.” NMU head coach Shane Richardson said. “That’s my whole concept is to be able to get it back and to feel like were competitive in that game.”

“We’ve got four priorities in our program and winning the Northern Michigan game is one of them,” Tech head coach Dan Mettlach said. “It is not just another game to us. Our guys understand what that means, and we’ll be ready to go when noon rolls around on Saturday.”

The Wildcats' offense looks a little different this year. They’ve been running the triple option, which the Huskies will have to prepare for.

“We know they want to run it,” Mettlach said. “It‘s not a surprise. We’ve got six or seven games of them on film, and it’s the same thing. We got to make sure that we are not getting lulled to sleep in our secondary.”

The Wildcats know breaking the 13-year losing streak won’t be easy.

“They play harder than a lot of teams that we play, and I think that’s a tribute to how they’re coached,” Richardson said. “I know they’re going to be up for us. It’s a big deal. It’s obviously a rival game, and they put a lot into it against us.”

Kickoff is set for noon on Saturday. The game will air on TV6.