This past weekend was the first without football for Aurora Christian seniors Chad Beebe, Joel Bouagnon and Brandon Mayes since just before two-a-days opened in August.

Could have fooled them.

Charting the whirlwind surrounding the trio’s future school, Northern Illinois, kept any Huskies recruit busy. Within 48 hours, NIU defeated Kent State in double overtime for the Mid-American Conference championship, learned coach Dave Doeren was leaving the program for North Carolina State, hired Rod Carey as Doeren’s replacement, and ascended the BCS rankings enough to land a spot in the Jan. 1 Orange Bowl.