Photo by Hunter Wilson/Daily News Cary Marquell (center, background), who coaches inside linebackers for Western Kentucky, motions a direction to Alonzo Higgins (center, foreground) on Wednesday during practice at Houchens-Smith Stadium in Bowling Green.

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With their win over future Sun Belt Conference foe Middle Tennessee State earlier this season, the Western Kentucky football team felt like it sent a message.

If that game sent a message, a win Saturday against defending Sun Belt and New Orleans Bowl champion Troy could send shockwaves.

“This is obviously the biggest game we’ve played, besides Florida, this season,” junior defensive end Dan Cline said. “This is kind of a measuring stick game for us - it will let us see how far we’ve come and how far we need to come as a team.

“Knocking off Troy would be tremendous for our football program. It would not only send a message to the Sun Belt Conference, but to the whole nation.”

Much talk this week has centered on whether Troy, which has hovered on the outskirts of the Top 25 lately, is one of the best teams ever to come into Houchens-L.T. Smith Stadium. Combine that with the fact there is no postseason this year for the Hilltoppers, and the result is a game that might be as close to a bowl-type situation as the Hilltoppers will experience.

“This game is our bowl game, to be honest with you, because we’re obviously not eligible,” Cline said. “We’re so pumped up about this game, we’re going to have 20,000 people in the stands and we’re treating it like a bowl game and more like a Sun Belt Championship game for us personally.”

While the immediate goal for the 2007 Hilltoppers is to reach the seven-win plateau and to secure a winning season in their first Division I-A go-around, the program’s ultimate goal is to succeed in college football’s highest echelon.

“This is a huge game, probably one of the biggest games for Western (Kentucky) to date,” sophomore wide receiver Jake Gaebler said. “We set goals when we first started out and seven wins is one of them, and this would be seven. We also want to be undefeated at Jimmy Feix Field, and this would be a step in that direction, too.”

A win against a team with Troy’s track record would be a pretty good start. The Trojans have beaten the Big 12’s Oklahoma State, while losing to Southeastern Conference powers Florida, Georgia and Arkansas.

“Troy’s a great team. They’re 6-3 and the only three they lost were to Top 25-type teams,” senior safety Marion Rumph said. “We already beat one defending champ of the Sun Belt, and that’s MTSU, but to come out and beat the other one would be a great point for our team and for the university.

“It’s a building block for the future - we’ll really know where we’re at after we play this team.”

What makes this game so unique for a team in WKU’s position is that it’s

pening at home. Usually a team without a proven track record at the I-A level has to go on the road to earn program-building victories.

With that said, both the players and the coaching staff hope this is the first of many big-time games on the WKU campus.

“It’s a sign of things to come, I think, for our fans and our players,” WKU coach David Elson said. “You want to have that big game atmosphere right here inside Houchens-L.T. Smith Stadium and this will be the first, and the first ever with a I-A opponent coming in here.

“And really I think you have to say thank you and tip your hat to Larry Blakeney and Troy, because you’re not going to find many I-A teams that will come to a transitional team like they’ve agreed to do. They’ve been there and done it and they’ve got some confidence that they can come in and get it done.”

But with all the hype leading up to this game, Gaebler said the team must keep in mind this is just one step in a long process. The preparation needs to be the same as it’s been for every game this season.

“This is a big game obviously, it’s the first I-A team to come in here, but as far as approaching it, it’s just another game for us,” Gaebler said. “We can’t put all the emphasis on this one.”