Kickoff
• Trinity International kicks off the 2016 college football season this weekend, when they play host to the 4th-ranked St. Francis (Ind.) Cougars.
• Streaming video and live stats of Saturday's contest will be available at TIUTrojans.com.

Quick Hits
• The Trojans will be going for sixth season-opening victory in the past seven years.
• Saturday marks the first time Trinity has hosted the opening week of the season since 2012.
• TIU is looking for their first-ever win over St. Francis, in what will be the sixth all-time meeting between the two pograms.
• On the defensive side of the ball, nine Trojans who started five or more games last season return in 2016, including two of the NAIA's top five leading tacklers in Riley Schussler and Mauricio Portillo.
• Senior wide receiver Cory Windle will set the all-time TIU record for receptions with his next catch, and is currently tied with Nathan Endemano (2004-05) with 118 career receptions.
• Four Trojans - Riley Schussler, Jarrell Carter, Mauricio Portillo, and Darwin Stone - were named to the All-MSFA Team last season and return for the 2016 campaign.
• St. Francis is coming off of an 11-1 record last year, along with an NAIA FCS Semifinal apperance.

Defensive Leaders
• Linebackers Riley Schussler and Mauricio Portillo return after leading the team with over 13 tackles per game.
• The duo ranked 3rd and 5th in the NAIA in tackles per game in 2015. Schussler led the Trojans with 13.8 stops each week, while Portillo recorded 13.2 tackles per game.
• Returning defensive end Bailey Pierson finished 2015 with a team-high five sacks, while linebacker Justin Hackley recorded 4.5 sacks. Both ranked among the top 20 in the MSFA last season.
• All three Trojans who had at least two interceptions last year (Schussler; Jarrell Carter; Achike Morah) also return to the squad this season.
• In all, Trinity's top 11 in tackles last season return for the 2016 campaign.

Offensive Leaders
• Four of Trinity's top five receivers from a year ago are back, led by junior Brad Hargis, who finished with 40 receptions and six touchdowns.
• Cory Windle is tied for the all-time receptions lead in Trinity history, with 118 career catches. The Yorkville, Ill. native made 36 catches for 499 yards and three TDs last season.
• Sophomore Isaac Branch returns at running back, after running for 20.2 yards per game and three touchdowns as a freshman.
• Senior kicker Jeremiah Carter is Trinity's all-time leader in field goals made, and points scored by a kicker. Last season, Carter set a single-season TIU record with 15 field goal attempts, converting 11 that included a career-long 48 yard field goal against Trinity Bible (N.D.)

Series History
• This weekend will be the 6th meeting all-time between the Trojans and Cougars, as the Trojans look for their first victory in the series.
• Trinity and St. Francis first met on Oct. 23, 1999, when the Cougars took a 54-36 win in Deerfield.
• St. Francis is the only opponent that Trinity has faced five or more times without earning a win in program history.

Last Time vs St. Francis
• Opening the season with back-to-back wins, Trinity suffered their first defeat of the 2015 season on Sept. 19, falling to the No. 17 Cougars 45-3.
• Quarterbacks J.J. Burmeister and Zach Chesser split nearly equal time under center, finishing a combined 14-for-24 with 123 yards.
• Two Trojans finished with double-digit tackles, led by junior linebacker Riley Schussler's 21 stops. Mauricio Portillo made 16 tackles as well, while Jarell Carter and Leland Orrin each finished with eight.

About St. Francis
• Recovering from their lowest win total in a decade during 2014, the Cougars rebounded to go 11-1 and reach the NAIA FCS national semifinal last season.
• St. Francis claimed the MSFA Mideast League title with a perfect 6-0 record in league play.
• After averaging nearly 50 points per game throughout the season, St. Francis fell to the eventual NAIA national champions Marian (Ind.) in their semifinal matchup, 45-14.

A Trojan Win Would...
• ... Start the team with a 1-0 record for the sixth time in the past seven seasons.
• ... Be the first-ever win over St. Francis in program history.
• ... Give the Trojans five straight season-opening victories, the longest such streak since 2001-05.
• ... Snap a nine game slide dating back to last season, and a six game streak at Frazier Field.

A Trojan Loss Would...
• ... Drop the Trojans' overall record to 0-1 for the first time since 2011.
• ... Be the sixth straight loss to St. Francis in series history.

Leslie Frazier Field
• TIU is 10-22 at home in the Wherritt era, and are 51-78-1 all-time at Frazier Field.
• The Trojans are 15-10-1 all-time in home openers, and have won the first game of the year at Frazier Field in five of the the past six seasons.

Trojan Football History
• The Trinity International Trojan football program has an all-time record of 102-169-2 (.377), 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 secondary coach of the NFL's Baltimore Ravens. 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.

National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete
• Senior linebacker Riley Schussler was selected as a nominee for the 2016 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards, presented by Fidelity Investments.
• To be nominated, a player must be a senior or graduate student in their final year of eligibility, have a grade point average of at least 3.2 on a 4.0 scale, have outstanding football ability as a first team player or significant contributor and have demonstrated strong leadership and citizenship.
• Schussler becomes the first player in Trinity history to be nominated for the award.

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 29 weeks in the program's history, and hold an all-time record of 15-12 (.556) as a nationally-ranked team.
• The Trojans are 7-50 (.123) all-time against ranked opponents, and 54-69 (.439) against unranked teams.
• When TIU is unranked, they are 50-118 (.298) 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 2016 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.
• This year, Trinity International holds Massey Rating of -0.90, good for 6th in the NCCAA rankings, and second among NAIA programs.