By BRAD WELBORN, Northwestern State Athletic Communications
NATCHITOCHES — There will be plenty to see when Northwestern State and Louisiana Christian kick off the 2026 football season tonight.
There will be the lights illuminating Turpin Stadium. The annual Inferno Run. The Spirit of Northwestern State Marching Band will be in full voice. Thousands of fans will be encouraged to wear purple as the Demons celebrate Purple Reign Night.
And, if the weather cooperates, there will be a lunar eclipse unfolding above it all.
Most importantly though, there will be football.
The Demons open the 2026 season by welcoming LCU’s Wildcats to Turpin Stadium for a 7 p.m. kickoff, beginning NSU’s third season under head coach Blaine McCorkle.
The game will air live on ESPN+ with Patrick Netherton returning for another season of play-by-play action. He will be joined by analyst Tyler Moody and sideline reporter Jason Pugh. It will also air locally in Natchitoches on 100.7 FM KZBL with Chris Salim and Jay Thomas.
“It should be a good crowd and a good atmosphere. And it definitely is not going to rain and there won’t be any lightning delays,” McCorkle joked. “Fully expect LC to bring a good crowd up here being so close and it should be a good night for football. Excited to get out there, hear the band, see the lights on. There’s nothing like college football at night. It’s special.”
The matchup itself is a special one for its rarity.
Northwestern and Louisiana Christian will meet for the first time since 1968, ending a nearly six-decade gap between two programs that once met on a near-annual basis from 1922 through 1968.
The Wildcats bring plenty of credentials into tonight’s matchup. LCU has won its NAIA conference championship in two of the past three seasons and presents the Demons an experienced opponent to open the year.
For Northwestern, the goal is to make its own bit of history.
The Demons are looking to open a season with a victory for the second consecutive year, something they have not accomplished since the 2007 and 2008 seasons. Last year, NSU snapped a long season-opening drought with a 20-10 victory against Alcorn State, giving the Demons their first season-opening win since Zach Adkins led NSU past Missouri State in 2013.
The Demons enter the season looking to build on the progress they made during McCorkle’s second season.
In FCS games NSU increased its production from year one to year two in points, first downs, rushing yards, total yards and time of possession. The next step is turning that statistical progression into more results on the scoreboard.
“The maturation of this team has been fun to watch throughout the spring and fall,” McCorkle said. “I think we’re all excited to see that really start to show some results on the field and the scoreboard.”
That process begins with playing a clean game.
“You want to play good, clean football early on,” McCorkle said. “They always say you see the biggest improvement in the team between game one and game two. It’s an old coaching adage but it’s very true. You don’t want a sloppy game one. You want to play hard. Play tough. Play fast and free. But you want to be disciplined at the same time. If we can do that and what we’re coached to do to the best of our ability, we’ll be in good shape.”
Northwestern has an influx of new faces in the back end of its defense, and those players will be tested immediately by an explosive Louisiana Christian offense that likes to push the tempo and features an experienced group of skill players.
Before that can happen, however, the Demons will have to keep pace with the Wildcats.
“Handling their tempo is our biggest focus,” safety Christian Williams said. “They move really fast and they have athletes on the perimeter just like we do. It’ll be a challenge in the secondary but we’re ready for everything. Our coaches do a great job of preparing us every day, so we’ll be ready.”
Contact Brad at welbornb@nsula.edu