Northern Illinois has played well in games against BCS-conference teams in Wisconsin and Purdue this season, but when asked if any opponent reminds him of the USF team he'll face Saturday, coach Jerry Kill said it's the Tennessee squad his team faced last year.

"As far as having athletic defensive players -- the defensive ends are great players, but the whole athletic ability of their football team is like a team in the Southeastern Conference," said Kill, remembering safety Eric Berry, who had an interception against his team. "We haven't seen somebody like that since Tennessee."

NIU held its own at Tennessee, losing 13-9 in Knoxville, and the Huskies played well this season against its toughest opponents, getting a road win at Purdue and losing 28-20 at Wisconsin.

NIU's top rusher, running back Chad Spann, said USF's defense reminds him of Wisconsin, which had an elite pass-rusher in defensive end O'Brien Schofield, who finished second in the nation with 22.5 tackles for loss in the regular season. Schofield had seven tackles against NIU, including 2.5 for losses.

"They remind us a lot of Wisconsin," said Spann, who rushed for 945 yards and 19 touchdowns this season. "They're a fast, strong defense that plays really hard. That's what we've seen all season."