ARCATA — One of the top NCAA Division II football programs is next on the Humboldt State football schedule when the Great Northwest Athletic Conference season continues this week. Humboldt State travels to face perennial powerhouse Central Washington University in Ellensburg at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Media: All Humboldt State football games are broadcast live  on KATA, 1340 AM radio, the North Coast's ESPN affiliate. J.B. Mathers calls the actiono, and will again be joined by HSU Hall-of-Famer Burt Norstrom, who adds commentary. The audio will also be streamed live on the hsujacks.com web site. …Another feature allowing fans to track the game's progress is the LiveStats component of hsujacks.com. This week's live stats will be made available on Central Washington's web site at  http://www.wildcatsports.com/livestats/football/xlive.htm.

Head-to-Head: HSU trails the all-time series with the Wildcats, 5-11-1. The most recent meeting was in 2007 when Central Washington earned a 44-0 victory over the Jacks. HSU is scoreless in its last two meetings vs. CSU, falling 20-0 in 2006 for the Jacks' only loss during a 9-1 campaign.

Coaches: Still early in his first season directing the Lumberjacks, Coach Rob Smith stands at 1-2 overall and 0-1 in conference games. As head coach at Western Washington for 17 seasons, Smith's programs achieved a 109-62-1 record. …Also in his first season as head coach of Central Washington is Blaine Bennett, whose previous experience includes serving as head coach at Western Oregon University from 1995-2000. Bennett is off to a 3-0 start with his new program.

Injury Report: Senior linebacker Allen Brunner continues a slower-than-expected recovery from a knee injury suffered in the season-opener at Sacramento State. He'll remain out this week, but his return is expected by month's end. …Defensive back Barry Davis will rejoin the program this week after missing last week's game because of a death in his family. David Looney also returns to the Jacks after missing the WWU game for personal family reasons.

Lumberjack Notes: While well aware of the Jacks' formidable schedule of opponents that lie ahead, HSU head coach Rob Smith is wisely focusing on what his own team can address during practice. One of his primary objectives will be pumping up the offensive production, which currently averages 14 points and 234 yards per game. "We're not anywhere close to where we want to be offensively," Smith said. "There are many areas we must improve upon, but that's the primary one." …Humboldt's running game has been solid, if not spectacular, with Bobby Thomas and Joevany Cueva both showcasing their skills. Thomas leads the way with 172 yards on 29 carries and is averaging 5.9 yards per rush. Cueva has gained 71 yards in 15 attempts for a 4.7 per carry average. …Injuries and other issues have forced the Jacks to shuffle the lineup throughout the first three games, and one result has been the emergence of some of those players forced into more prominent roles. Among them is linebacker Bubba Reynolds, who led the Jacks in tackles for the second consecutive week, this time with nine. …On the defensive side of the ball, the Jacks have been consistent in putting up an overall strong performance in each of the three games. …Against Western Washington Guy Ricciardulli came up with his third interception of the season, contributing to the team's total of five achieved in the last two games. …For the third straight game the Jacks kept the penalties to a minimum, finishing with five for 52 yards. That's a line they've maintained through the first three games, totaling 15 penalties thus far and finishing with fewer than their opponent in each contest.  …Returning to the GNAC offers an opportunity for postseason play in the Rotary Bowl, which is held in St. George, Utah. The top GNAC team not selected for the Division II playoffs is guaranteed a berth in the game. Western Oregon participated in the event a year ago.

Opponent Notes: Central is off to a 3-0 start, with two high-scoring victories followed by last week's thriller against Western Oregon. Trailing by two touchdowns, the Wildcats rallied for 21 straight points to earn the 31-24 win. …Three preseason All-Americans lead Central into a promising season only one year after advancing all the way to the NCAA Division II quarterfinals. Quarterback Mike Reilly, a first-team preseason AA selection, has completed 73 percent of his passes thus far (78-92) and thrown only two interceptions. Nine of his completions have been for touchdowns. …Reilly's primary target has been wide receiver Johnny Spevak, who is another of the preseason honorees. Spevak has hauled in 25 passes for 422 yards and four touchdowns. …The third All-American candidate is tight end Jared Bronson, who has 11 catches for 213 yards and three touchdowns. …Wide receiver Chris Rohrbach, who has 12 receptions in two games,  missed last week's game because of an injury and his status for this Saturday remains uncertain. …Also missing last week's game was starting tailback J.R. Hasty, who was averaging 5.0 yards per carry. Hasty's status coming off an injury is also uncertain. …Middle linebacker Adam Bighill is the team's leading tackler thus far with 22, and outside linebacker Buddy Wood is one behind.

Smith Says: " (Central Washington) doesn't have any obvious weaknesses. They have an NFL-caliber quarterback in Mike Reilly, who is a viable candidate for the Harlon Hill Award. They have an All-American receiver who everyone tries to slow down, but he still makes his catches. Their tight end is another possible All-American and their runing back is explosive. Those are the players you hear about the most, but they're actually much stronger than just those players." …"I told the players that this is an opportunity to play one of the best teams at our own level. Competitive people enjoy challenge like that." …"We're making slow progress, but there's no satisfaction in that when you lose."

Jacks' Roster: Online roster and downloadable version in MS Word available at http://…?path=football&

Depth Chart: Current two-deeps for HSU and opponent are available for download at http://hsujacks.com/documents/2008/8/25/HSU2deep.pdf

Statistics: Following Saturday's opener and throughout the season, current HSU statistics can be viewed online at http://www.hsujacks.com/custompages/football/2008/teamstat.htm.