Published January 6, 2026

Normal is a place I visited a long time ago. Circumstances conspired last night for me to revisit it in memory.

Good thing. Normal is in short supply lately.

My first road trip as a college football beat writer was in September 1993 to Normal, Illinois, home of Illinois State University. The Redbirds were playing their home opener against McNeese State University, my new beat.

Many travels would follow, including the next weekend to Orlando. Normal was my first taste of a new normal for me as a reporter and columnist.

Why tell you about this now? Last night I found myself watching the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision national championship game between Illinois State and Montana State. Memories came rushing back.

Montana State won last night’s game 35-34 in an overtime thriller. Both teams seemed to try their best to give it away.

It was a fun trip in ’93

As I recall, it felt more like fall in Illinois than it had in Louisiana. Lunch outdoors was an unmistakable indicator.

The hotel had apples out on the counter at the front desk. I’d never seen that before. Good hospitality. Good apples.

I sat in the smaller of two press boxes at Hancock Stadium. This one was on the visitors side, literally attached to Horton Field House behind it. If a basketball game had broken out behind me, I could have turned around and watched it.

Illinois State surprised McNeese 37-27 in that 1993 game. McNeese won the 1994 rematch 31-17 in Louisiana.

Covering the FCS — called Division I-AA at the time — was a lot of fun. Sixteen-team playoffs were standard from 1986 to 2009, and nobody blinked. It took the Football Bowl Subdivision a long time to catch up, and it’s still chasing the FCS playoff format.

Twenty-four teams participated in the playoffs that concluded last night.

Before moving on to a Southeastern Conference beat, I covered the playoffs four times, including the first of my two I-AA national championship games. The winning coaches in those title games were pretty big deals: Jim Tressel and Jack Harbaugh.

Fans of FCS programs enjoyed a camaraderie that was charming to witness. Sure, there were rivalries, but they seemed to keep it in perspective.

It was a delight to think about those days last night. Normal was a fun place to visit.

Reminder: I’ve seen college football games in a lot of stadiums.

Sending love. Protect your peace.

Map closeup by SevenMaps via Shutterstock.com.

Illinois State football stadium photo by Joseph Hendrickson via Shutterstock.com.

♥

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