For so many years, Northwestern was the skinny, four-eyed pushover of the Big Ten. Midseason visits to Evanston meant opportunities for opponents to run up the score and get playing time for the second-stringers. The Wildcats hardly gave anyone a game for more than one quarter.

Why? Well, no one expected Northwestern to be successful on the gridiron — their players were brains, not jocks. The school's near-perfect graduation rate usually extended to the football team, which was comprised of players who were first-class students if second-class athletes.

But take a look at the list of the last six conference-championship winners — Northwestern appears three times. And with a 4-1 start to this season, the No. 22 Wildcats have once again put themselves in position to show the nation that smart guys don't have to finish last.

"In a lot of respects, we have things going in the right direction," said head coach Randy Walker. "And I think we can continue to improve."

One of the finest academic institutions in the Midwest, Northwestern recruits high-caliber student-athletes from all over the country. This season's roster includes players from 25 different states as well as two from Canada.

Off the field, Northwestern's 86 percent graduation rate ranks it first among Big Ten schools. On it, the team has been up and down during the past six seasons — in between last season's co-championship team and the 1995 Rose Bowl appearance, the Wildcats were a combined 11-24 — but the scales are definitely tipping toward success.

Many have attributed those recent successes to the energetic Walker, now in his third year as head coach, and the dynamic "spread" offense he has brought to the program.

But Penn State head coach Joe Paterno, among others, knows that Northwestern's rise to national prominence has to do with more than just a few alterations to the playbook.

"They went to the Rose Bowl without the spread offense," Paterno said. "I think that what Randy Walker has done is gotten into a situation to take a good look at what he had and changed some things. Obviously, he has done a good job with it."

Walker has also done an admirable job of keeping the team together during what has been a rough season off the field. When the rest of the nation was fearstruck by the Sept. 11 attacks, Northwestern was still mourning the loss of senior safety Rashidi Wheeler, who died this summer after a severe asthma attack during practice.

Despite the adversity, the Wildcats have placed themselves in the thick of the Rose Bowl race. The scrawny pushover has become a Big Ten bully — a bully that still has a 3.0.