Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald said his team had a tough opponent coming up this week -- but it wasn't Penn State.

The 31-year-old coach said his team has been its own worst enemy lately.

"If we play the way we did on Friday night and have self-inflicted wounds and just kill ourselves and turn the ball over and miss some turnover opportunities -- we're not gonna beat anybody. It's a pretty simple equation," he said.

The Wildcat's two losses came against underdogs in Nevada and Division I-AA New Hampshire.

But no one expected Northwestern (2-2) to start off so slowly, and tailback Tyrell Sutton said he was no different -- even after losing 34-17 to New Hampshire. It was the first time in history that a Big Ten team lost to a Div. I-AA squad.

When asked if he could believe the outcome after staring up at the scoreboard those final seconds, Sutton responded instantly.

"I wouldn't say disbelief -- more along the lines of embarrassment," he said. "No one wants to lose to a team that's in the lower [division]. It was more of a reality check for us."

Last season, the Wildcats competed in the Sun Bowl and defeated the likes of Iowa and Michigan State. Now, Northwestern will be lucky to break .500.

Of course, the untimely death of head coach Randy Walker didn't help matters. The long-time coach passed away three months ago of an apparent heart attack. Fitzgerald, an assistant, took over the reins.

"Obviously there's been a couple differences ... just because we were so used to Coach Walker -- and obviously that's a tough loss for any program to go through," kicker Joel Howell said.

There's been a few growing pains for the young club. The graduation of last year's quarterback, Brett Basanez, also led to a decline in offensive production.

First-year starter Mike Kafka has already thrown five interceptions and only one touchdown. Kafka's quarterback rating of 95.9 is the 100th best in the nation -- Anthony Morelli is 14 spots ahead.

"Their quarterback tries to run a little more, but I think this kid is dangerous," Penn State linebacker Sean Lee said. "We've gotta watch him. He's hurt some people with long runs."

But, mostly, the Wildcats have hurt themselves. Against Nevada, Northwestern committed five turnovers. And against New Hampshire, the Wildcats accounted for three turnovers.

"Everything can always be improved. There's always something to improve on, whether it's running, blocking, anything," Sutton said. "If we score 40 points a game, we know we can score 47 or 100. It doesn't matter -- we're always striving to get better."