BLOOMINGTON - Last week's 12-6 overtime victory over Millikin snapped a three-game losing streak and provided a much-needed emotional lift for the Illinois Wesleyan football team.

It also gave the Titans some direction entering today's 1 p.m. College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin road game against Elmhurst at Langhorst Field.

"If you look at the schedule we have four teams to play, and three of those four teams are ahead of us in the conference," said IWU coach Norm Eash, whose team is 2-4 overall and 1-2 in the CCIW. "We can make a difference in the conference, and I think that's a great goal for our kids.

"If we take it one game at a time and win out we can end up tied for second in the conference."

A second-place tie sounds good to IWU senior linebacker Mike Mastro after the Titans endured 3-7 seasons the last two years.

"Coach made a good point when he told us if we win out we'll assure ourselves of at least a tie for second place in the conference," Mastro said. "That would be pretty impressive considering our record the last two years."

Elmhurst (4-2, 1-2) had designs on winning the CCIW title after a 4-0 start, but the Bluejays' hopes were derailed after league losses to Augustana (28-14) and North Central (30-16).

"They're still a very good team," Eash said. "My dark horse pick (to win the CCIW) at the beginning of the season was Elmhurst because of the number of players they had coming back."

Mike LaFluer and Ryan Freund have alternated at quarterback for the Bluejays since returning starter Chris Kudyba, the younger brother of former IWU quarterback Tom Kudyba, suffered a season-ending knee injury in the first game of the year. LaFluer and Freund have both thrown for 581 yards out of Elmhurst's spread offense.

"It helps us not having a Chris Kudyba back there," Eash said. "Their two quarterbacks don't make as many plays as a Chris Kudyba does, but they know the offense and they do a good job of spreading it around to other people. We have to defend a lot of different things because they're a spread offense.

"They're still one of the best teams defensively in the league and they're thinking is their defense is going to carry them. We have to get on top because we don't want to have to come from behind against their defense. They're going to play real excited once they get a lead, and that's what happened to us last year against them."

Sophomore Nick Panno will make his third straight start at quarterback for IWU after tossing an 11-yard touchdown pass to Martin Ceisel to put the Titans ahead in overtime against Millikin.

"I thought we played more of a complete game at Millikin and came up with some big plays, especially in the fourth quarter," Eash said. "We played great defense throughout the day, and I thought we had some good spurts on offense. Down the stretch our kids came alive and really made some big plays."

The Titans held Millikin on the Big Blue's overtime possession after Mastro make a key tackle on a third-and-goal situation.

"The defense played well and the offense scored when they had to," Mastro said. "We played with a lot of heart and we weren't going to lose that game. We wanted it more than (Millikin) did."

Illinois Wesleyan vs. Elmhurst

Site: Langhorst Field, Elmhurst

Kickoff: 1 p.m.

Records: IWU 2-4 overall, 1-2 CCIW; Elmhurst 4-2, 1-2

Coaches: IWU's Norm Eash has a 118-67-1 record in 20 seasons at his alma mater. Tom Journell has a three-year record of 14-12 at Elmhurst.

Illinois Wesleyan leaders: Rushing: Marcus Dunlop (364 yards, 2 touchdowns); Passing: Brandon Cotter (60-114, 599 yards, 4 touchdowns); Receiving: Martin Ceisel (32 catches, 426 yards, 5 touchdowns); Scoring: Martin Ceisel (5 touchdowns, 30 points); Tackles: Bo Osburn (52)

Elmhurst leaders: Rushing: Matt Smith (184 yards, 2 touchdowns); Passing: Mike LaFleur (59-93, 581 yards, 4 touchdowns), Ryan Freund (37-80, 581 yards, 4 touchdowns); Receiving: Michael Cooley (30 catches, 306 yards, 1 touchdown), Terence Young (24 catches, 348 yards, 4 touchdowns); Scoring: Terence Young (6 touchdowns, 36 points); Tackles: Ward Brady (54)

Illinois Wesleyan injuries: Quarterback Brandon Cotter (ankle) is probable.

Elmhurst injuries: Wide receiver Terence Young (ankle) and cornerback Kyle Grimes (ankle) are probable.

What to watch for

- IWU will try to ride the momentum from last week's 12-6 overtime win at Millikin that snapped a three-game losing streak.

- Elmhurst, which got off to a 4-0 start, is coming of CCIW losses to Augustana (28-14) and North Central (30-16).

Sophomore quarterback Nick Panno, who was intercepted three times by Millikin, will face a veteran Elmhurst defense boasting eight returning starters.

- Mike LeFleur and Ryan Freund alternated at quarterback last week for Elmhurst.

Points of interest

- IWU holds a 44-9-1 lead in the all-time series with Elmhurst despite a 20-15 road loss to the Bluejays last season.

- Elmhurst starting quarterback Chris Kudyba, the younger brother of former IWU quarterback Tom Kudyba, injured his knee of the fifth play of the season opener and is out for the year after undergoing surgery this week.

- Marcus Dunlop has moved into 12th place on IWU's career rushing list with 1,629 yards, just behind current North Central coach John Thorne (1,696, 1965-68).

- IWU junior defensive back Bo Osburn is averaging a league-leading 10.4 tackles per game while Elmhurst senior linebacker Ward Brady ranks second at 9.0.

Sounding off

- "The best we can do is second place in the CCIW, but that's a goal and something to work towards. Everyone has to have some hope and goals, and that's what our kids have right now." - IWU coach Norm Eash

- "We have a pretty good idea of what they're going to do. They use a shotgun with a single back. They have a kind of no-huddle (offense) but it's not necessarily a hurry-up. We've been working on it all week and I think we'll be ready." - IWU senior linebacker Mike Mastro

Compiled by Douglas Hamm