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Quote:KENT: Doug Martin will never forget when Kent State hosted Northern Illinois during the Golden Flashes' 1-10 season in 2005.

It isn't the tough-to-swallow 34-3 loss the KSU coach remembers the most. It is the meaningful words shared between two coaches intent on turning their respective programs around that have lingered.

Northern Illinois coach Joe Novak ''put his arm around me after the game and looked me square in the eye and said, 'Don't stop doing anything you're doing. Do it exactly the way you are doing it now. You're so farther ahead of where we were our second year,''' Martin recalled.

Time has proven Novak right. The Flashes enjoyed a breakout the following season, posting a 6-6 overall mark last year that saw them finish as runners-up in the Mid-American Conference East Division.

''I have more respect for him than any coach I know of,'' Martin said of Novak. ''Watching what he has done at Northern Illinois and knowing where they've come from, I think he's a remarkable coach and an even better person. It's a great privilege to go out there and compete against him.''

To outsiders, today's game might look like a meaningless battle between the Mid-American Conference's two last-place teams: the Flashes (3-6, 1-4 in MAC play) in the East and the Huskies (1-8, 0-5) in the West.

To Martin, it's a must-win game if his team is to salvage a disappointing and injury-riddled season by winning its final three games to reach six wins.

''We still have something to play for,'' Martin said. ''This season still has meaning for the future of this program.''

Not only in terms of wins and losses, but also in terms in the development of freshman quarterback Giorgio Morgan. The strong-armed rookie ditched his redshirt status two weeks ago to step in for Julian Edelman, who is out for the season after breaking his right (throwing) arm Oct. 20 against Bowling Green.

In his first full game, Morgan nearly led the Flashes to victory over visiting Central Michigan, throwing for three touchdowns without committing a turnover. After an open date allowing further tutoring, Morgan gets his second start, against a struggling Huskies team that is looking to halt a five-game losing streak.

''The first thing that stands out to me is (12-year) coach Novak and the job he's done there,'' Martin said. ''He has taken over a program that was 3-30 his first three years, but has since led them to postseason appearances the last three years.''

Despite 2007 being a down year for the Huskies, Martin considers Northern Illinois a ''dangerous'' team, for more reasons that his respect for Novak. The Huskies have lost games by one, two, three and four points.

''They reflect coach Novak's personality,'' he said. ''They're mentally and physically tough, they're playing hard and they're doing it without many seniors. So there are a lot of young guys playing and getting better as the season has gone on.''

In a lot of ways, the Huskies are like the Flashes. Kent State might be a little ahead for next season: Morgan is getting his feet wet, and standout tailback Eugene Jarvis is only a sophomore.

Jarvis ''is more than fast, he's quick,'' Novak said. ''You don't see him, he's through the hole, and he makes you miss. I told our team (Sunday), 'This is one of the finest running backs you're gonna see for a while.'''

Then there's the 6-foot-4, 200-pound Morgan.

''He scares me — after just one game,'' Novak said. ''He's a tall, rangy kid who can run. He's athletic, ran their spread well, threw the ball deep well and put points on the board.''

As for Northern's offense, Martin expects to see the Huskies run.

''They always have good running backs, and there's no exception now,'' he said, referring to sophomore Justin Anderson, who ranks fourth in the MAC with 110 yards per game. ''The schemes they run where they zone-block, then they'll fold down and trap-block some — they give you a lot to work on as far as your front and how they're attacking you.

''Then, they always have a great play-action game where they throw the ball over your head — and that has been a problem for us here the last couple weeks.''

Whatever happens, afterward the two coaching friends will meet on the field, no doubt pausing once again to exchange encouraging words.

Novak is ''one of the most humble men I've been around in the coaching profession,'' Martin said. ''All of us in coaching, we've all got egos — athletics breeds that, I guess. But he's the one guy where there's no ego with him.''