By Clyde Hughes
D3sports.com

Andy Studebaker is two years removed from McCully Stadium in Wheaton, Ill. but he continues to have a profound impact on his old college and football program.

Studebaker, who backs up Mike Vrabel at linebacker and a special teams standout for the Kansas City Chiefs, has been an inspiration to current players, especially the ones who played with Studebaker at Wheaton.

The Wheaton Thunder, ranked No. 4 in the country, rolled to the national semifinals a year ago before falling to eventual national champion Mount Union 45-24. So the Thunder's 2-0 record going into Saturday's home game against Hope is not a complete surprise. Wheaton coach Mike Swider said Studebaker's success in the NFL as one of a handful of Division III players to make the big lights has his players' attention.

"For our kids, they remember Andy as the hardest working kid on the team," Swider said Tuesday. "He's not only a young man with great physical skills, but nobody outworked the guy. With the Chiefs, he was given one of the awards for one of the hardest working guys in the offseason. He has represented our program exceedingly well and has been a great example of our players when it comes to training."

Swider said Studebaker, a former All-American, spent a lot of time during the off season working out at Wheaton. Instead of separating himself from current players and working in isolation, he embraced his former teammates and current players.

"In the offseason he lifted in our weight room and spent a lot of time here," Swider said. "Most guys would have been wearing his Chiefs gear. Instead, he wore his old Wheaton football t-shirts and football shorts. 

"That's because he still considers himself a Wheaton football guy. He could have come back here with his NFL logo and Chiefs stuff on. He's proud to be a Wheaton football player and our guys working out with him saw that. He has been tremendously encouraging to our program."

Of course, Wheaton;s current stars are making a name for themselves, like quarterback Sean Norris. Norris, in his third year as a starter, helped Wheaton win three playoff games on the road last year. On Sept. 12, he returned to his road magic, throwing a touchdown pass to Justin Zeller with five seconds left in the game to beat Bethel 29-26 at Arden Hills, Minn.

"Sean is a great leader and has been in a lot of big games for us," Swider said. "You can see how Sean;s leadership took over in that last drive. We had to score and he led us. Our team rallied and jumped on his bandwagon."

Swider said by no means is Norris the only veteran who deserves recognition, but said Norris has the intangible of toughness that sets him apart.

"Nobody can question his physical skills, but he is such a tough kid," Swider said of his quarterback. "I think two of his greatest qualities are his mental and physical toughness. They believe in him and he can inspire the people around him. Now there are other returning kids on the team with experience and they are playing together well."

Rocky Gingg rushed for 97 yards on 25 carries in the Bethel win while wide receiver Danny Hindman caught eight passes for 101 passes. Swider said he has been pleased with the play of the defense, despite being so young.

"We graduated a lot of kids on defense last year," Swider said. "Confidence usually comes from people who've been there before. The biggest thing that strikes me about our defense is the level of confidence we've played with so far to be so young."

Swider said while fans will have one eye on Wheaton's Oct. 24 road game in Naperville, Ill. against No. 12 North Central, he said the Thunder has to concentrate on the games in front of them to be success. North Central is the defending College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin champion and beat the Thunder at Wheaton last year.

Swider said, though, his team has to work harder on getting better as a team than thinking about the team they are playing.

"Who we play should never affect how we play," Swider said. "We have an opponent to play. The question for us is how well will be play. We can't focus on the opponent. You have to focus on yourself and get better each week. This conference top to bottom is as good as any in the country. I think it's hard to find another conference with eight teams that play at the level our conference does. I'm not sure there's an upset in our conference."

Stretching the field

Speaking of the CCIW, the conference has compiled another impressive record against non-conference opponents. Going into Week 4, the CCIW is 16-4 (.800) against non-conference opponents. Two teams, Illinois Wesleyan and Millikin, are 3-0 with Illinois Wesleyan averaging 41 points per game.

• Those who weren't impressed with Concordia (Ill.) 2-0 record last week might want to start thinking again. The Cougars scored a tough 12-7 road win against Olivet (Mich.) and now has week off before taking on Wisconsin Lutheran in Milwaukee. The win there would give Lonnie Pries his first four-win season with Concordia. When Pries arrived at River Forest, Ill., the Cougars were coming off back-to-back 0-10 seasons. In his first three seasons, he went 2-8, 3-7 and 3-7. The Wisconsin Lutheran game could be another sign of change for Concordia.