With three more top-10 teams losing this past weekend, several changes to college football vocabulary appear imminent.

Dominance? Gone. Easy victory? Gone. Parity? Certain.

All of these changes are fortunately nothing new for Northwestern. With four games left to play, the Wildcats are in the thick of the Big Ten conference race, to the point where coach Pat Fitzgerald’s calendar has taken a peek at the months forthcoming.

“I like playing in December and January,” Fitzgerald said when asked if he would like to see his team in a bowl game. “We’re not there yet. It’s still October.”

While the month of October has done little to solidify where the Cats will be at the end of the season, it has allowed them to achieve crucial midseason momentum. A victory over Purdue this Saturday would give NU its first 4-0 October since 1996.

That was Fitzgerald’s senior season as a player, when the Cats lost to Peyton Manning and the Tennessee Volunteers in the Citrus Bowl, now known as the Capital One Bowl.

The opportunity to become bowl eligible before November has not come by magic. According to the players, it has been production from both sides of the ball.

“I feel really confident going into these last four games,” sophomore defensive lineman Corey Wootton said. “Offensively and defensively, we’re starting to click. The offense has been doing its thing all year, and the defense is starting to come together.”

Over the course of the Cats’ three-game winning streak, the offense has produced 572 yards per game. The defense has forced seven turnovers.

With 32 bowl games on the schedule, 64 teams are eligible. At the end of Saturday’s play, 28 already qualified with six or more wins. NU stands as one of 45 “on the bubble” teams with four or five wins at this point of the season, leaving no guarantees of a bowl placement.

“We’re all aware that bowl eligible might not even get you a bowl this year,” senior offensive guard Adam Crum said. “You need six before you can get seven (wins).

“We pick this up, and we’re primed for the next couple of weeks.”

STARTING LINEUP

After three plays of action in Friday’s win against Eastern Michigan, junior running back Tyrell Sutton can expect a bigger load this Saturday against Purdue.

The conclusion of Monday’s workouts saw Sutton ahead of fellow junior Omar Conteh on the depth chart for the first time since leaving the field week two against Nevada.

With a short four-day week of practice, Fitzgerald said placing heavy expectations on Sutton against Eastern Michigan was too much of a risk.

“He hadn’t been out there enough,” he said. “To go through the emotion before the game and handle a role on the field was very important. He handled it really well and he’ll be ready to go this week.”

But while Sutton failed to get the opportunity to make a huge play with the ball, he was still making an impact off the ball. As a decoy on a double reverse to wide receiver Eric Peterman, Sutton laid out a defensive end with a huge block, allowing Peterman to pick up a few extra yards.

As his return to the starting lineup appears probable, Crum yielded to the dividends having Sutton on the field would pay.

“He adds a different dimension attitude wise,” Crum said. “You’ll never find someone of his size or stature with that swagger he’s got. He’s a fiery guy and he keeps everybody locked in.”

Reach Chris Gentilviso at [email protected].