ARCATA — Central Washington brings its 3-2 overall record and 3-0 Great Northwest Athletic Conference record into Redwood Bowl this week for a football game laden with motivation for the upstart Lumberjacks. Humboldt State is 3-1 and 2-0 in conference, its best start since 2006.

That campaign ended up with the Jacks at 9-1 overall, their only blemish a 20-0 defeat dealt by Central Washington. That win is one of the Wildcats' 34 straight victories over GNAC or former GNAC opponents.

On-the-Air
Every Lumberjack football game is broadcast live over the local airways on KATA, 1340 AM, beginning with the pregame show 20 minutes prior to game time.  Bicoastal Media Sports Director J.B. Mathers describes the action and HSU Hall of Fame inductee Burt Nordstrom adds commentary. …Audio and video are also streamed live over the Internet through the hsujacks.com web site. The UStream format allows an interactive chat between listeners during the webcast.  The specific URL for access is located at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/humboldt-state-athletics.

Live Stats
All Lumberjack football home games can be tracked online by using the Live Stats feature on hsujacks.com. Real time statistics, drive progress and other information are featured on the game viewer. The feature can be found at http://www.sidearmstats.com/humboldt/football/.

Coach Rob Smith
Two weeks into his third year as the Lumberjacks' head coach, Rob Smith's Lumberjacks have posted a 10-15 record through the program's transition.  Before coming to HSU, Smith guided the very successful Western Washington University football program for 17 years. During his career as the Vikings' head coach,  Smith's teams posted a cumulative record of 109-62-1 for a .640 winning percentage. His wins total and winning percentage will remain the best in school history for the now defunct WWU football program.

Head-to-Head
The Wildcats lead the all-time series, 16-5-1 over the Lumberjacks. The most recent HSU win vs. the Wildcats was a 40-30 victory in Ellensburg in 1997. …Last year's two meetings were claimed by CWU, but the Jacks made the going difficult in Redwood Bowl. HSU lead after three quarters before the Wildcats rallied for a 34-27 victory. … Central Washington has won 28 consecutive conference games, and has 34 straight wins over GNAC or former GNAC opponents.

Lumberjack Notes
Linebacker Mike Lynch was selected as GNAC Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts in the Jacks' win over Western Oregon. Lynch led the team with nine tackles, two for lost yardage, and one quarterback sack. Lynch's tackles for a loss proved critical to the Jacks' success, his first forcing a field goal that the Jacks blocked and returned for a touchdown, and the second stopping a WOU drive deep in HSU territory. …Despite throwing three interceptions, HSU quarterback Mike Proulx received positive reviews from the HSU coaching staff following the Western Oregon win. “Mike had some high throws and bad decisions early, but he's the first one to admit that and to learn from that,” HSU head coach Rob Smith said. “He also came up with some big plays at critical times that palyed a big part in the win.” …Selected by the coaching staff as the team's players of the week were wide receiver Dirk Dallas and running back Lyndon Rowells on offense, Andrew Iupati, Elzie Gatson and Jordan McGowan-Smith on defense, Jonathan Faraimo and McGowan-Smith on special teams, Victor Spencer as offensive scout team POW and Thomas Haney as defensive scout POW. …Lyndon Rowells is one of several running backs posting impressive numbers in the GNAC this fall. His third straight 100-plus yards game gives him an average of 115.0 yards per game, ranking him a narrow third amongst GNAC backs. Rowells does lead the league in all-purpose yards with 158.0 per game. …HSU's defense has received consistently stellar play from its cornerbacks, Gatson and McGowan-Smith. The former has already earned a GNAC Defensive Player of the Week honor, and the latter ranks first in league in fumble recoveries and third in passes defended.

Injury Report
HSU's list remains light on the injury front, and three players held out for precautionary measures may actually return this week. They include wide receivers Edwin Henry and Mike Streck, and linebacker Kevin Duley.

Wildcats Notes
Central Washington is experiencing its customary success as one of the top NCAA Division II football programs in the nation. The Wildcats, who lost the DII championship last season in the final seconds of the game, have been ranked as high as No. 7 this year. They were listed at No. 11 in one poll (d2Football.com) and No. 22 (AFCA) in another last week. …The Cats are coming off a shootout victory over Simon Fraser. Following a low-scoring opening half that ended tied, 10-10, the teams exploded for a combined 43 points in the second half, the Wildcats eventually earning the 43-30 victory. It was the second time they've played new GNAC affiliate Simon Fraser this fall. …Running back Bryson Kelly earned co-GNAC Offensive Player of the Week honors, rushing for 246 yards on 30 carries in the win over SFU.  That performance gives him a 1.8 yards per game advantage over Rowells in the GNAC running back statistics leadership battle.

Smith's Assessment
“Our defense stepped up last week, and the kicking game did too. That's a sign of a good team when one area covers for another and you find ways to win.” … “Our running game continues to be a real strength. Lyndon Rowells has been impressive, but it's not just him. Daniel Wyatt gave us two very nice runs last week, and they both have the big-play ability. They've also been able to get us the tough yards, though. That gives the coaching staff a sense of comfort in its play-calling.” …”Central Washington has been THE team to beat in the west for a number of years now. We're definitely the underdog, but if you want to be considered as one of the best, you have to beat the best. They want to keep their streak going, and we want to end it. There's a lot riding on this game.” … ”Central Washington is a difficult team to line up against for many reasons. They have a real NFL prospect in (defensive tackle Eugene) Germany, and I've always liked (linebacker Adam) Bighill. Along with those players, they have (defensive end Andrew) Oney back after a year off, and a couple of Division I transfers at linebacker. They don't have a lot of weaknesses.”