NACOGDOCHES, Texas -- Fresh off its thrilling double-overtime comeback victory against McNeese, the Northwestern State football team brings its record-breaking offense into Thursday night's season finale against rival Stephen F. Austin in a battle for Chief Caddo, the largest trophy in sports.
 
NSU (4-6 overall, 3-5 in the Southland Conference) will battle the Lumberjacks (2-7, 2-6) at Homer Bryce Stadium at 6 p.m. in a Southland Conference matchup that wraps the season for both teams.  The game will be televised nationally by Eleven Sports, which is available on satellite carriers and extended sports packages on many cable systems.
 
The Demons, who beat the Lumberjacks 38-21 last year, haven't won in their last four trips to SFA since a 34-24 victory in 2008.
 
"You throw the records out when Northwestern State plays Stephen F. Austin," head coach Brad Laird said. "It doesn't matter at this point when you're playing for Chief Caddo. You know the importance of winning Chief Caddo for both the communities of Natchitoches and Nacogdoches."

The contest will be the 75^th football collision between the rivals, with the first game in 1924. The schools created the Chief Caddo trophy in 1961, paying homage to the Native American heritage of the region and in particular, the two communities that are home to NSU and SFA.
Northwestern is aiming to end the season with a sweep of its two closest and biggest rivals for the first time since 2004, after scoring a double overtime win at home last Saturday over McNeese.

The Demons came back from a 14-point second half deficit, including erasing an 11-point gap in the final 11 minutes, to force overtime and upset the 18^th-ranked Cowboys 37-34. With NSU down 31-23, junior quarterback Shelton Eppler found Jaylen Watson for a 19-yard touchdown with 27 seconds left. The Demons converted the game-tying two-point conversion on an Eppler pass to Ferguson.
 
After both teams were scoreless in the first overtime – thanks to a game-saving blocked field goal by NSU's Hayden Bourgeois -- McNeese made a field goal in the second overtime, before NSU needed just more two plays to end the game. A 19-yard pass from Eppler to Ferguson set up the game-winner as Ferguson caught a 6-yarder in the end zone to break the Cowboys' 13-game winning streak over the Demons.
 
NSU has rallied in the second half of the last three games, outscoring opponents 56-21. Those last three have been decided by a combined eight points, with the Demons overcoming an 18-point deficit to beat Houston Baptist 31-28, then nearly erasing a 20-point third-period hole in a 49-47 defeat at Abilene Christian and toppling McNeese.
 
"These last three games I have been able to be a part and be able to watch things go very high and things go very low and see how we adjust," said junior defensive tackle Christian Bluiett, who came back from offseason shoulder surgery in the HBU win. "Things don't always go our way, but we were down by a significant amount against ACU and we adjusted and almost came back and won.
 
"Our slogan is never yield. That is what happens when you constantly go even when things aren't going your way. Good things are going to happen."
 
Junior wide receiver Jazz Ferguson kept up his incredible play last Saturday against one of the best defenses in the conference. He caught nine passes for 112 yards and a pair of touchdowns against McNeese, including catching two for all 25 yards in the second overtime, as well as the two-point conversion that tied the game in regulation.
 
The LSU transfer broke the single-season receiving yardage record for the Demons with a 17-yard reception on NSU's first offensive play of the game. He became the first Demon to record a 1,000-yard receiving season. With his two scores, he now has 13 on the year, a single-season mark and fourth on the career list. Ferguson also moved into second for single-season receptions with 61. The top spot is occupied by Ed Eagan's 73 in 2014. He will also crush the school record for single-season receiving yards per game, averaging 104 to Eagan's 76 in 2014.
 
In the FCS rankings, he is 9th in receiving yards (1,046), 11^th in receiving yards per game, and is tied for fourth in receiving touchdowns. Ferguson also ranks in the top 20 in receptions.
 
"What you see with Jazz is the unbelievable plays like he had to win the game against McNeese," Laird said. "What you don't see is when we're down 34-14 at Abilene Christian and he's on the sideline showing his leadership abilities."
 
Ferguson is not the only one making his mark in the Demon record book this season, as Eppler is also moving up the charts. Against a good McNeese defense, the junior quarterback completed 25-of-46 passes for 292 yards and four touchdowns.
 
With those four scores, he now has 24 on the season, which passed Zach Adkins' 21 from 2013 for second place in Demon single-season history. He is four behind Adkins' 28 from 2014 for the top spot. Eppler is currently fifth in single-season passing yards (2,338) and tied for fourth in both pass completions (178) and pass attempts (296).
 
Eppler ranks in the top 10 in the FCS in three categories: passing touchdowns (24, 6th), pass yards per game (292.3, 6th) and points responsible for per game (18.3, 6th). 
 
Three receivers had at least five receptions against McNeese, led by Ferguson's nine. Two of those completions were to senior tight end Kalen Meggs. In his last game ever at Turpin Stadium, Meggs caught his first career touchdown, a 27-yard reception in the third quarter that cut it to a 21-14 Cowboys lead.
 
Stephen F. Austin fell behind 24-0 at halftime last week to Nicholls and getting beaten convincingly 47-14 last week. Like NSU, SFA was blown out against an SEC team in its opener, losing 63-6 to Mississippi State. Despite the 2-7 record, the Lumberjacks have played well at home. In Nacogdoches, they are 1-2 at home, but defeated Abilene Christian and played well against then-No. 16 Central Arkansas and a red-hot Lamar team, losing by a combined 17 points.
 
In last year's meeting, the Demons jumped out to a 21-0 first half lead and never looked back, as NSU won back Chief Caddo with a 17-point victory in Natchitoches. NSU has the overall lead in the series 45-26-3. The home team has won the last six contests.
 
Defensively, senior defensive end Obi Iheoma had two sacks against McNeese and leads the team with six on the season. Junior defensive tackle O'Shea Jackson leads the Demons with 8.5 tackles for loss and senior defensive tackle Zak Krolczyk is right behind him with eight.
 
Bourgeois remains the team leader with five interceptions, which is also first in the SLC and tied for fifth in the FCS. NSU is plus-11 in the turnover differential, which is eighth nationally, and their 25 turnovers forced is fifth nationally.

Bourgeois and junior linebacker Quindarrius Whitley are tied for the team lead in tackles with 74. Junior safety Ryan Reed is third with 68.
 
Freshman Myles Ward's 24.5-yard average on kick returns is second in the conference. Bourgeois is the reigning Southland and Louisiana Special Teams Player of the Week, as he had three punt returns for 52 yards, two of which set up 10 Demon points. He also came through with a critical blocked field goal in the first overtime to keep the score tied.
 
Stephen F. Austin quarterback Jake Blumrick has completed 61 percent of his passes with nine touchdowns and seven interceptions. Three running backs have at least 200 yards on the ground, led by Josh McGowen's 331. He averages 4.6 yards per carry.
 
Blumrick has a trio of solid wide receivers at his disposal who have at least 450 yards receiving. Terian Goree leads the way with 559 yards on 54 catches and three touchdowns. Tamrick Pace has 495 yards on the year, including 233 in his last two games. Pace also leads the team with six touchdown catches. Remi Simmons has 471 yards receiving. All three have at least one game in which they had 100 yards receiving.
 
Defensively, defensive tackle Demetrion Amie leads the Lumberjacks in both sacks and tackles for loss with 4.5 and six, respectively. The other defensive tackle, Rashad Nichols, has 3.5 sacks and five tackles for loss. 
 
"There are a lot of similarities to the way some of their games have ended," Laird said. "Their quarterback has a lot of experience in the conference and two receivers have at least 40 catches. They are a dangerous passing team."
 
Thirteen seniors will play their final game for the Demons Thursday, including offensive lineman Frank Boudreaux, who was an anchor of the offensive line that did not allow a sack against a vaunted McNeese pass rush that came in with 27 sacks on the year.
 
"It's been a good five years, but there had not been a signature moment this year," Boudreaux said. "Then last Saturday, it all came together. This is what you come back for. It was nice to get a rewarding feeling in my last home game."
 
The Demon Sports Network radio broadcast team of Patrick Netherton and Tony Taglavore will call the game, starting with a 30-minute pregame show at 5:30. The network flagship station is 100.7 FM KZBL in Natchitoches with 101-7 FM and 710 KEEL AM in Shreveport, KBUCK 105.5 FM in Alexandria and 103.1 FM KWLA in Leesville-Many as affiliates. Free audio is available at NSUDemons.com.
 
The Demon Sports Network broadcast stream is also available anywhere on the new Northwestern State athletics app. The free app, which is available for both Apple and Android devices, houses news, videos, schedules and in-app streaming for Northwestern State athletic events.
 
"I look forward to the opportunity to continue to see Chief Caddo as I walk through the door," Laird said. "I want our players to understand when they walk in the locker room to get ready for practice with the importance this game has because of what Chief Caddo means to not just Northwestern State, but the community of Natchitoches. It's a special rivalry we look forward to each year."