THIBODAUX – When Northwestern State takes the field for its first 11 a.m. football game in seven years Saturday morning, it will do so against a team it looks at as an example.
 
The Demons' early start to a Southland Conference game at Nicholls comes nearly seven years to the day since its last 11 a.m. start, which coincidentally also came at Manning Field at John L. Guidry Stadium.
 
First-year head coach Blaine McCorkle will lead his Demons (0-7, 0-2) into Thibodaux for the first time, doing so against a program he said he can use as a blueprint for his squad.
 
"Way back there, before coach (Tim) Rebowe got there, they had some really rough patches, and there is some similar history for them as to where we are now and where we're going," McCorkle said. "You look at what coach Rebowe's done there and what he's built, the model is exactly the model we're trying to do here. That's Louisiana high school kids, grow and develop them. If you look at their roster, they probably have as few transfers as anyone in our conference. That's why they're wining – they're growing and developing players.
 
"They've got their handful of transfers, too, probably about 20 on the roster, where the last couple of weeks, we've played people with north of 50. It shows the model is keep players, develop them and keep them from nearby – Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi – who are excited about being here and turning it into a better product down the road."
 
As Northwestern heads down the road to face the Colonels (2-4, 0-1), they will do so armed with a boost of confidence.
 
Although the Demons fell to Texas A&M-Commerce on Oct. 12, Northwestern's offense found its groove late, covering 179 yards on its final two drives – both of which culminated in touchdowns, including a 27-yard score from redshirt freshman wide receiver Amaaz Eugene, who stretched the ball over the goal line while being dragged down to tally his first career score.
 
"That does give our offense a lot of confidence," McCorkle said. "It shows them, 'Hey, we can do this.' We can't wait four quarters to do it. We have to do it for four quarters and not wait until the fourth. Those were a couple of moments for our offense to come together, get some confidence, get some excitement and compete. When Amaaz scored at the end there with 14 seconds left – he's fighting to stretch the ball across the goal line – he's fighting to compete to the end. Our sideline got fired up and excited. That was a good indication the guys are fighters and are competing all the way down to the wire."
 
A stout Nicholls defense that ranks second nationally in fewest rush yards allowed per game (72.5) will provide a challenge for the Demon offense while the early start time does the same for the entire roster.
 
"You do a little more work on Friday than you do no Saturday, because you don't have all day Saturday to do that last walkthrough, that last meeting," McCorkle said. "You have to make sure you have everything covered. The guys will have a workout with (strength and conditioning) coach (Jason) Smelser to get the central nervous system firing. Other than that, you wake up, you eat and go play. We're staying about 45 minutes from Thibodaux, so we'll wake up, eat and have a little bus ride down to Thibodaux. It's the same for them. You're kind of in the same camp when game day hits."
 
As far as how the Demon players feel about an early start, it remains preferable to an early class.
 
"Nah, 8 a.m. classes are different," Eugene said. "They're different."