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(STATS) -- Though it has highly anticipated trip to Fargo looming on Oct. 1, Illinois State certainly cant afford to look ahead entering a matchup with an Indiana State team led by one of the MVFCs hottest quarterbacks.After a rare home loss dropped them from fifth to ninth in the STATS FCS Top 25, the Redbirds hit the road hoping to bounce back Saturday when they try to slow Isaac Harker and the Sycamores in the conference opener for both clubs.Illinois State (2-1) was riding high following a 9-7 victory at Northwestern on Sept. 10 before making some crucial miscues at the wrong times in last Saturdays 24-21 loss to rival Eastern Illinois. The Redbirds committed three turnovers before a furious late rally fell short as they lost for only the second time in their last 22 contests in Normal.It was a very eye-opening experience for our players, because really to be honest with you, we played hard -- particularly defensively, Illinois State coach Brock Spack said. We moved the ball. We had (443) total yards of offense -- almost 200 more than they did, but there are a couple statistics that are very telling. One is three turnovers.Spacks squad, which has earned a share of the last two MVFC titles with North Dakota State, will have a titanic showdown against the top-ranked Bison on Oct. 1. First, the Redbirds will have to figure out a way to contain Harker, the MVFC offensive player of the week. He leads an Indiana State offense that has put up at least 27 points in all three contests.Harker ranks second in the MVFC with 284.7 passing yards per game after completing 22 of 36 attempts for 302 yards and three touchdowns in the Sycamores 27-24 come-from-behind win over Southeast Missouri last weekend. The sophomore was 11 of 16 for 126 yards and two scores in the fourth quarter and hit Miles Thompson for the go-ahead TD with 10.8 seconds remaining.We found a lot of positives about Isaac in how he handles stress and pressure, Indiana State coach Mike Sanford said. Our team has a ton of confidence in him and thats going to be big moving forward.Robert Tonyan, a 6-foot-6 receiver, poses the biggest matchup problem for the Redbirds. He finished with seven catches for 90 yards and a touchdown against SEMO, giving him a conference-best 22 receptions for 272 yards and four scores overall. Tonyan finished with nine catches for 117 yards and three TDs in a 27-24 loss at Illinois State last October.The Redbirds, however, have been the MVFCs best defensive team early on, ranking first in sacks (10), total defense (223.3 yards allowed per game) and opponent passer rating (88.3). They havent been nearly as sharp offensively, totaling just 30 points since a 50-13 win over Valparaiso in the opener.Jake Kolbe has thrown for 562 yards in the two games, but he threw a big interception against the Panthers to raise his total to four. Anthony Warrum (16 catches, 252 yards) and Spencer Schnell (19 receptions, 150 yards) have been the top targets in the passing game.Theyll try to find the holes in a defense that ranks eighth in the 10-team league with 253.3 passing yards allowed per game.Our defense improved (last week), but its still not where I expect it to be as the season progresses, Sanford said. We have quite a few young players in the secondary.The Sycamores (2-1), who couldnt hold on to a 24-9 halftime lead over the Redbirds last season, have had all kinds of trouble in this series, dropping 16 of the past 18 meetings.---=MORE FBS TESTS=So far, eight FCS programs have defeated FBS teams this season. Thirteenth-ranked Western Illinois (2-0) and Missouri State (2-0) hope to join that list in their nonconference finales this weekend.The Leathernecks will try to build on their strong start when they take on former rival Northern Illinois for the first time since 2009. The Huskies look to avoid their first 0-4 start since 1999, while Western aims to snap a 15-game skid versus FBS opponents.Missouri State, which went 1-10 last season, seeks its first 3-0 start since 2004 as it travels to Kansas State on Saturday night. The Bears, though, have lost 30 straight versus FBS foes dating to a 31-24 win over UNLV in 1990. The Wildcats (1-1) have won three all-time meetings -- all in Manhattan -- by a combined 160-43, including a 51-9 rout in the most recent matchup in 2012.Wholesale Giants Jerseys . A statement from the worlds top-ranked player says all checks "were satisfactory and showed positive evolution" regarding the injury, which contributed to his loss to Stanislas Wawrinka in the final in Melbourne. 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Durant finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds, Jackson matched his career high with 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting and Lamb scored 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, lifting the Thunder to a 94-88 win over San Antonio and snapping the Spurs 11-game winning streak.Nick Compton admits his England future hangs in the balance after his three-ball duck in the first Investec Test against Sri Lanka at Headingley.England thumped Sri Lanka by an innings and 88 runs to take the lead in the three-match series, but for their No 3 batsman, it was only a continuation of his run drought.The grandson of the legendary Denis Compton scored a battling 85 in the series opener with South Africa in Durban, but in his last six innings he has been out for 15, 26, 0, 19, 6 and 0. That puts him under big pressure ahead of Fridays second Test at Chester-le-Street, which is live on Sky Sports. Comptons top score in his last six international innings is 26 Yeah, sure. Definitely, Compton said when asked if he thought his England career was on the line.I dont know the actual answer to that but youve got to score runs. I want to score runs but I want to do it because I want to feel good. England will be looking to seal the series against Sri Lanka with a win at Chester-le-Street, which is live on Sky Sports 2 on Friday I want to feel good about my batting and I want to feel ggood about contributing to the England team.dddddddddddd Those are my driving motivations. If you dont play well enough you get dropped. Thats fundamentally how it works.The Middlesex man admits his old-fashioned grafting is in stark contrast to the belligerent batting of someone like team-mate Ben Stokes. Watching Ben Stokes 200 is better than watching Comptons 80, he said. If I was sitting on the couch Id rather watch Stokes 200 as well. The way the games going - I think people are drawn towards a certain glamour and some players provide that and people want to see more of that. Jonny Bairstow column Batsman blogs on his Headingley ton and Steven Finns batting Thats great, were in the entertainment business, its about getting bums on seats...Im by no means unaware of that. Thats what people want to see.I know deep inside me theres a player in here who could change all those opinions very quickly, but unfortunately until you do it and people see it in real life theres no point in me saying anything else.Captain Alastair Cook praised Compton for his honesty, and backed him to produce the goods in the second Test. Compton was out for a duck at Headingley Its quite refreshing that he has come out and said it in one way, said Cook. Youre always under pressure when youre playing for England.He played some good innings in South Africa, certainly at the start of the tour - that 80-odd, he battled hard and set up a good win.And he has scored two [Test] hundreds already. So he can play at this level. Like all of us, hes only a score away, and he needs a score, but hes in a really good place to do that.Also See:Anderson takes 10 in England winWATCH: Players of First TestWoakes named in England teamStokes a big miss for England ' ' '