Nicholson giving NIU a shot in the arm

DEKALB - Dan Nicholson has felt the business end of the needle more times than he cares to recall.

But the Northern Illinois senior quarterback's desire to play is so strong, he has been willing to endure as many cortisone shots as it takes to calm his throwing shoulder.

In case you're wondering, Nicholson receives no anesthetic before the 3-inch needle plunges through his deltoid and hits pay dirt.

"It's not fun," Nicholson said. "It's not fun. You feel it go in and-"

The South Side of Chicago native received most of his shots in years past, when he played despite a tear in his rotator cuff that finally was fixed during the off-season.

But some pain returned during fall camp, which is why Nicholson's most recent cortisone shot came 10 days ago.

That made it easier for him to start the Huskies' 48-3 win over Indiana State last week.

"Nothing's forced upon you at all," Nicholson said. "I felt I kind of needed it to play."

After sitting out the opener at Minnesota - when redshirt freshman Chandler Harnish led the near-upset - Nicholson has hit on 21 of 39 passes for 276 yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.

With Harnish's stress fracture still protected by a walking boot, Nicholson is slated to start again Saturday when NIU travels to Eastern Michigan (11 a.m., Channel 50) for a Mid-American Conference battle.

Expect him to continue to share time with redshirt freshman DeMarcus Grady, who threw his first touchdown pass against Indiana State.

"(Dan) feels much better," said coach Jerry Kill. "He's played with less pain this week than he has since camp started."

In related news, Nicholson says this week's preparations have been off the charts.

"I feel like we've had a great week of practice," he said. "The best I can remember. We really came out to work - and we worked hard.

"Obviously getting a win, you feel good about yourself. But we realize how important this game is for us."

Eastern Michigan (1-3, 0-1) used to be an automatic win for NIU (1-2, 0-1), but no longer.

The Eagles shattered that illusion last September in DeKalb, when they rallied from an early deficit to win 21-19.

Nicholson went the route in that game and remembers one play more than the rest - the interception he threw to linebacker Daniel Holtzclaw deep in NIU territory with 7:16 to go. The Eagles went ahead and scored to push their lead to 21-13.

Nicholson led a drive capped by his touchdown pass to Brandon Davis, but his 2-point pass didn't work.

He then moved the Huskies into field-goal range, but Chris Nendick's game-winning 50-yard field-goal attempt was blocked as time expired.

"They're still a real solid group," Nicholson said. "Nothing too different (from last year)."