If the Wildcats and their fans have anything to be thankful for on Thursday, it’s Big Ten rivalry week.

Without it, Northwestern would be stumbling into Champaign for the last game of the season already eliminated from postseason contention and at a total loss for motivation.

But their hatred for in-state rival Illinois — and the thought of losing the Sweet Sioux Tomahawk — has kept the Cats (4-6, 2-5 Big Ten) going through the final days of their season.

“This game still has a lot of meaning to us,” NU head coach Randy Walker said. “Obviously we’re not going anywhere. We’re not in contention for a bowl game, we’re working to try and get guys playing better. But we can still do that and play our best football this week.”

The Cats find themselves in the same role Illinois played last year when the teams met in Evanston in the season’s final week. The only difference was that the Fighting Illini were still bowl eligible.

In that game, NU downed the Kurt Kittner-less Illini 61-23 to post a 6-2 conference record and claim a share of the Big Ten title. Meanwhile, Illinois hobbled home with a 2-6 Big Ten mark, leaving behind the Sweet Sioux as well.

But this year, the Cats face a veteran Illinois team (9-1, 6-1) that is ranked No. 10 in the country and is looking to clinch a Big Ten title of its own.

“Last year, the tables were turned,” NU senior linebacker Kevin Bentley said. “We were in their position and we took their bowl hopes away, so I’m going to play my heart out. And it’s more than just the Sweet Sioux, trust me.”

Many players from the two teams played together in high school. And the friendly bickering has been going on all year through the modem and on the phone.

The rivalry is even more personal for quarterback Zak Kustok, whose father played on the offensive line at Illinois. Kustok grew up attending games at Memorial Stadium — the thought of playing at NU didn’t come along until later.

When Kustok was about 10 years old, he turned to his father during an Illinois game and said, “One of these days, I’m going to be running onto this field.” It was a prediction the elder Kustok didn’t dispute.

“When I said that, I was thinking about doing it with the orange helmet on,” Kustok now says. “But this game is going to be fun for me, going out in my last game there.”

Kustok is coming off his best offensive performance of the season — and one of the best in NU history — against Bowling Green last week.

But his quarterbacking counterpart with the Illini will be going for a record of his own on Thursday. Kittner needs only one more victory to set a new school record for career wins by a signal-caller.

Kittner and his 16 senior teammates will also be playing in their last game at Memorial Stadium on Thursday. The Cats had little luck in their own Senior Day on Saturday, losing to Bowling Green, 43-42. But the defeat has Kustok and Bentley not only gearing up for the Illinois rivalry, but also trying to stave off a career-ending six-game losing streak.

“I’m a senior and that was my last home game — that was not the way I want it to end,” Bentley said. “I definitely don’t want to end with a loss, so I’m going to do whatever is in my power to come out with a ‘W.'”