This Week: The Notre Dame College football team will play No. 16 Shepherd on Saturday, September 1, at 12 p.m. on Mueller Field. 

Records: Notre Dame College finished second in the MEC last year with an 8-3 (8-2 MEC) record. Shepherd finished atop the conference standings with an undefeated 10-0 record.

Coaches Corner: Mike Jacobs is in his third year as the head coach of the NDC football program. He has an overall record of 17-5 (16-4 MEC). Ernie McCook is in his debut season as the head coach of the Rams. McCook has spent the last 19 seasons with Rams, including the past nine as offensive coordinator. 

Rankings: Shepherd was ranked No. 16 in the August 15 AFCA Preseason Coaches' Poll. Notre Dame received 18 points in the voting.  

Series History: In a series dating back to 2013, the Rams lead 4-1. NDC's lone victory came in 2014 when the Falcons upset a Shepherd team ranked No. 8. Last season, the pair that finished first and second in the league kicked off the year with one of the most entertaining games in MEC history. A back-and-forth offensive battle ended with a five-point 54-49 loss for Notre Dame. The teams, in front of an national audience on ESPN3, gained 950 yards of offense to go along with the 103 combined points. 

Noting the Falcons: In Notre Dame's short histroy, the team's offense has been defined by a strong run game and accurate quarterbacks. While a new QB will take over for Malik Grove, who graduated after starting all 33 games the past three seasons, the running backs group returns all of its contributors from a year ago. On the defensive end, with a unit that redefined bend-don't-break in 2017, the Falcons bring back 11 of its 15 leading tacklers, including senior captain RJ Goodwin who led the team with 64 tackles.

Noting the Rams: After winning three-straight MEC Championships, Shepherd was picked to win again by the coaches in the preseason poll. Newly appointed head coach, Ernie McCook will have big shoes to fill after Monte Cater retired last season after 31 years with the Rams. Not only did SU lose its long-time leader, but the team also lost the MEC Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year from 2017.

QB Questions: With both teams losing their star quarterbacks from a year ago, the Falcons and Rams will look to move forward with a new face under center. Cedric Lynch, who spent 2017 as NDC's back-up QB, will move to defense as one of the team's starting cornerbacks while redshirt-freshman Chris Brimm takes over as the general of the offense. Shepherd will start either sophomore Steven Curran or freshman Tyson Bagent, but either way both teams QBs will see their first snap on Saturday. 

By the Numbers

9: Field goals made by kicker Tanner Harding in his freshman season last year. Harding ranked fourth last year in number of makes, but was second in the conference in accuracty (75.0%) making nine of his 12 attempts. 

74: Penalties called against the Falcons last season. That mark was second-fewest in the conference last year. Mike Jacobs's teams have been very disciplined in his first two seasons as Notre Dame had the least amount of penalties in 2016. 

140: Points scored by NDC outside the Red Zone last year, ranking second in the league behind West Virginia State's 141. Out of Notre Dame's 351 total points in 2017, 211 came inside the Red Zone as the team scored just over 60 percent of its points within the 20-yard line, the third-lowest percentage in the conference. In contrast, Shepherd relied heavily on Red Zone scoring, leading the MEC with 73.9 percent of its points scored inside 20 yards.