Kickoff
• Trinity International looks for its third straight victory on Saturday, when the Trojans face their toughest test of the early season. TIU takes on the 17th-ranked St. Francis (Ind.) Cougars in their third straight road game to open the year, for a 11:00 a.m. CDT kickoff. St. Francis will have live, streaming video available, at SaintFrancisCougars.com.

Quick Hits
• The Trojans will be going for a 3-0 start for the second time in the past three years.
• Last Saturday, senior running back Chris Elliott set the all-time TIU rushing record, with 3,304 career yards. Elliott already holds the record with 651 rushing attempts and is tied for 2nd with 30 rushing TDs.
• This game will be the fifth-ever meeting between the Trojans and Cougars; USF holds a 4-0 record in the all-time series.
• Riley Schussler and Jeremiah Carter were selected as the MSFA Midwest Defensive and Special Teams Players of the Week, for their performances in last week's overtime in at Wisconsin Lutheran.
• Trinity and St. Francis are two of the top four rushing offenses in the MSFA; TIU averages 221.5 yards on the ground, while the Cougars have averaged 193.5 yards per game.
• St. Francis eanred a 48-42 road win over Taylor last weekend. Taylor scored 35 unanswered in the third and fourth quarters to make it a six-point affair.

Series History
• This weekend will be the 5th meeting all-time between the Trojans and Cougars, with St. Franics winning each previous matchup.
• Trinity and St. Francis first met in 1999, when USF took a 54-36 win in Deerfield.
• Overall, St. Francis has outscored the Trojans 217-49 over their previous four meetings.
• St. Francis is one of three programs that Trinity has yet to earn a win over, with at least four prior meetings.

Last Time vs St. Francis
• The No. 8 Cougars held Trinity to 189 yards of total offense and a pair of field goals, in a 33-6 loss on Oct. 16, 2010.
• Thomas Denne led the Trojan defense with nine tackles, and one tackle for loss. Shawn Sweet grabbed an interception for the lone turnover of the game for both sides.
• Running back Cole Bamberger collected 36 yards on 13 carries, while Scott Stanick and Daniel Beals split time at quarterback, throwing a combined 109 yards.

About St. Francis
• The Cougars finished 6-5 a year ago, including a 4-2 mark in the Mid-States Mideast League, good for a third-place result in the conference.
• This season, St. Francis are off to a 2-0 start, with a blowout win over Olivet Nazarene 59-16, and a six-point victory at Taylor last week, 48-42.
• USF quarterback Nick Ferrer is the reigning MSFA Mideast League Offensive Player of the Week, after throwing for 434 yards and five touchdowns against Taylor. Ferrer is the NAIA's national leader in pass efficiency, with a 247.2 rating.
• St. Francis reached the NAIA National Championship game three straight seasons, from 2006-08, but fell in all three contests.

A Trojan Win Would...
• ... Start the team with a 3-0 record for the second time since 2013, and the seventh time in program history.
• ... Be the first-ever win over St. Francis (Ind.) in program history, in their fifth meeting.
• ... Give the Trojans three straight road victories for the first time since 2001.
• ... Give the Trojans three straight wins overall for the first time since the first three games of the 2013 season.

A Trojan Loss Would...
• ... Drop the Trojans' overall record to 2-1.
• ... Mark the third time in the last four years that Trinity has started a season 2-1.
• ... Be the fifth loss to St. Francis in as many contests.
• ... Be the eighth overall loss in the last eleven games for Trinity, stretching back to last season.

Leslie Frazier Field
• TIU is 10-17 at home in the Wherritt era, and are 51-73-1 all-time at Frazier Field.
• Including the win last season over Wisconsin Lutheran, the Trojans are 15-9-1 all-time in home openers, and have won the first game of the year at Frazier Field the past five seasons.
• The Trojans host Concordia on Saturday, September 26 for the first home game of the season.

Trojan Football History
• The Trinity International Trojan football program has an all-time record of 103-160-2 (.391), dating back to their first season as a varsity program in 1990.
• TIU's head coach for the inaugural season in 1989 through 1996 was Leslie Frazier. Frazier was a member of the 1985 Super Bowl Champion Chicago Bears, and is currently the defensive coordinator of the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He had a record of 38-37-3 while at TIU, and remains the winningest coach in Trinity International history.
• The Trojans have won three MSFA Midwest League titles in school history, in 1994, 1995, and 2003.
• Trinity International has earned two NAIA Football Championship Series berths, in 1994 and 2004. TIU is still searching for their first NAIA playoff victory, falling to Northwestern (Iowa) and Georgetown (Ky.), respectively.
• TIU has one appearance in the NCCAA Victory Bowl, where they fell to Garner-Webb (N.C.), 54-14, in 2001.

Trojan Attack
• Through just the opening game this season, Trinity International ranks 14th in the NAIA with 39.5 points per game. The Trojans' rushing game ranks 16th (221.5 ypg), while the passing attack sits 35th (238.5 ypg).
• Chris Elliott ranks 4th nationally in the NAIA, averaging 135.5 rushing yards per game.
• Wide receiver Dillon Turk is collecting 106 yards per game in the early season, 12th-most in the NAIA.
• Freshman punt returner Raphael Williams is averaging 17.5 yards per return after collecting 105 yards on six punts this year. Williams sits 4th on the NAIA leaderboard in total yards, and 5th in return average entering play this weekend.
• Thanks in part to four field goals last weekend, Jeremiah Carter is currently 7th in the NAIA among kickers, with 23 points on the year.

TIU Milestones
• Last weekend at Wisconsin Lutheran, Chris Elliott became TIU's all-time leader in rushing yards, collecting 178 yards on 30 carries. Elliott now has 3,304 career rushing yards, surpassing the former record, held by Todd Johnson (1990-94).
• Against St. Xavier on Nov. 8, 2014, Elliott became just the 2nd rusher in TIU history to collect over 3,000 career rushing yards.
• Elliott recorded his second career 1,000-yard season in 2013, becoming the first Trojan to ever reach the 1K mark twice in his TIU career.
• The Miami, Fla. native's career high came as a freshman in 2012, with an MSFA-record 346 yards in the final game of the year over Waldorf.
• Wide receiver Cory Windle is closing in on a few school records of his own. The junior has collected 89 receptions during his three seasons at TIU, just 29 behind Nathan Endemano's mark of 118 (2004-05). Windle also needs 760 yards to tie Endemano for the all-time receiving record.

Record-Setting Performances
• Throughout the 2014 season, 37 single-game, season, or career records were either broken or tied in the TIU record books.
• Kicker Jeremiah Carter set a new single-game record with nine extra-points scored in the win over Trinity Bible on Nov. 1.
• Carter also tied the single-game field goal record, converting three kicks at Olivet Nazarene on Oct. 4. Trojan kickers have recorded three field goals five different times throughout program history (Kelly Tappenback, 2004; Mark Wilcox, 2008; Jason Owens, 2011; Carter, 2013 & 2014). Adding his name yet again, Carter set a new record for points scored by a kicker, with 53 points throughout last season.
• Quarterback Stephen Anderson finished his TIU career last year, making a case as one of the best signal-callers in Trojan history. Anderson now owns the all-time school record in passing yards (5,996), total offense (7,019), passing completions and attempts (536-899), and touchdowns (60). His career completion percentage of 59.6% is the highest among all Trojan QBs with at least 300 attempts.
• Anderson also set a new single-game record with seven passing touchdowns in the win over Wisconsin Lutheran on Sept. 12. Wide receiver Cory Windle tied the program's single-game receiving touchdowns record with four TD catches in that game.
• Linebacker Riley Schussler set a new single-game record with 23 tackes in the season finale at William Penn. His 136 tackles on the year is also a new TIU record.
• Fellow linebacker Ethan Ming's 6.5 sacks on the year set a new single-season record.

AFCA Good Works Team
• Junior linebacker Riley Schussler was selected as a nominee for the 2015 Allstate AFCA Good Works TeamÆ, announced by the Allstate Insurance Company and the American Football Coaches Association.
• Schussler is one of 197 college football players across the nation to be nominated for the highest off the field honor in college football.
• The Wrightstown, Wisc. native is one of just seven student-athletes in the NAIA, and the only representative in the Mid-States Football Association to be selected as a nominee. He also becomes the first player in Trinity International history to be nominated.

TIU Defense
• Entering play this week, Trinity International leads the NAIA in opponent's fourth-down conversions. The Trojan defense has stopped all seven fourth-down attempts from Trinity Bible and Wisconsin Lutheran, and are one of just seven programs to not allow their opponents to move the chains on fourth down yet this season.
• The Trojans' 91.5 rushing yards allowed per game ranks 17th in the NAIA, while the scoring defense ranks 9th nationally, with 13.5 points given up per game.
• Linebacker Riley Schussler ranks 28th with 10.0 tackles per game, and 18th nationally with 2.0 tackles for loss per game.
• Four different Trojans have recorded an interception this year, and are all tied for 33rd on the NAIA leaderboards: Schussler, Jim Kenney, Jarell Carter, and Daniel Harris.

TIU in the Polls
• The Trojans start the season unranked, with their last appearance in the coaches' poll coming in 2013.
• That season, Trinity was ranked as high as No. 21 on Oct. 7, following their win over Olivet Nazarene.
• Before the 2013 season, Trinity's last ranking came in 2005 (No. 24, Sept. 19).
• TIU has been ranked 18 weeks in the program's history, and hold an all-time record of 14-11 (.560) as a nationally-ranked team.
• The Trojans are 7-45 (.135) all-time against ranked opponents, and 54-65 (.454) against unranked teams.
• When TIU is unranked, they are 50-109 (.314) since the poll's debut in 1999.

NCCAA Victory Bowl
• The top two teams in the NCCAA based on Massey Rating will meet at the end of the season in the 2015 Victory Bowl.
• Trinity International has made one previous appearance at the Victory Bowl, in 2001. The Trojans fell to current NCAA Division I foe Gardner-Webb (N.C.), 54-14.
• The Trojans finished 9th in the NCCAA standings last season, with a Massey Rating of -0.65.
• This year, Trinity International holds Massey Rating of -0.58, good for 11th in the NCCAA standings.

#BreakTheChainsTIU
• The Trinity International football program has partnered with Bright Hope for a third year to raise $15,000 and rescue girls trapped in sex trafficking in northern India.
• Since 2013, the TIU Football team has raised $22,500 and awareness for Bright Hope's Anti-Human Trafficking Intiative.
• To learn more about the Trojans partnership with Bright Hope, visit BrightHope.org/TIU.