When the Eastern football team takes the field at 5:30 p.m. today, standing in its way of an outright Ohio Valley Conference Championship will be a team not expected to pose much of a challenge.

But don’t tell that to Eastern junior cornerback C.J. James.

“They’re very talented,” the Panthers’ team-leader in interceptions said. “They have a lot of transfers from big-name schools.”

Tennessee State enters today’s game riding a four-game losing streak as speculation mounts about the job security of Tigers’ fifth-year head coach James Webster. But while Webster’s job is safe for now and his team enters the game with nothing to play for logistically, he said he doesn’t view his team’s role as that of a spoiler.

“We’re not looking at it from the standpoint of being a spoiler,” Webster said during Tuesday’s OVC coaches teleconference. “With a young team, we’re looking at it as a measuring stick. With so many guys returning next year, it will let us know how far off we are. It gives them a chance to see a championship team and program, how they carry themselves. It will be a great experience for us.”

The Tigers started OVC play 2-0, including a victory over preseason conference favorite Eastern Kentucky, the only team in the conference to defeat the Panthers this season. But since then, it’s been all downhill, with consecutive losses to Murray State, Tennessee Tech, Tennessee Martin and Austin Peay.

Throughout the losing streak, the Tigers have featured a plethora of players at all of their skill positions, leaving Eastern defensive coordinator Roc Bellantoni concerned about what his team will see out of the Tigers.

“The biggest concern for us is the fear of the unknown,” Bellantoni said. “They’ve played three different quarterbacks, three tailbacks and have some very skilled wide receivers who make big plays. They rotate a bunch of guys and have different combinations, so we don’t know exactly what to expect.”

Webster said sophomore quarterback Calvin McNairl, who threw three touchdown passes in the Tigers’ most recent loss to Austin Peay, will get the start today.

McNairl has been the Tigers’ most efficient quarterback throughout the season, throwing seven touchdown passes and eight interceptions in seven starts with a quarterback efficiency rating of 108.4.

Even with the short week of practice leading up to today’s ESPNU broadcast, Eastern head coach Bob Spoo said his team is focused on completing the goal it set at the beginning of the season – winning a conference title.

“We’re in a position we had hoped to be in at the start of the year and we’d like to finish out strong,” Spoo said. “We got a good performance last week, probably played our best game, we’re just trying to get ourselves ready for the quick turnaround.”

Bellantoni said the Panthers will get two key members of his unit back for today’s game.

Sophomore linebacker Cory Leman, the team’s leading tackler before going down with a leg injury Oct. 10 at Penn State, is back and will start.

Sophomore reserve safety Carlos Reyna, who has been out with broken ribs, will be back in action.

However, the team will be without junior reserve defensive tackle Spyros Bazigos, who broke his ankle in Saturday’s victory over Tennessee Martin.

James said the team isn’t letting the thought of being conference champions get in the way of its preparation.

“We’re trying to stay focused,” he said. “Even though we’re No. 1 in the conference, we’re still looking back at last year and they beat us by 45 points last year. The whole mood of practice this week has been that this is our championship game. Are we going to let it slip away from us or are we going to take advantage of the situation?”

The Panthers can clinch the conference title even if they lose Thursday. Eastern Kentucky – the second-place team in the conference – plays Jacksonville State Saturday.

If the Colonels lose to the Gamecocks, the Panthers will win the OVC regardless of Thursday’s outcome.

Positioning for the Football Championship Subdivision will be announced Sunday at 2 p.m. on ESPNU.

Collin Whitchurch can be reached at 581-7944 or cfwhitchurch@eiu.edu.

Tennessee Martin dismissed the Eastern football team last year in a YouTube video after the Skyhawks won 29-26.

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Junior wide reciever Charles Graves catches the ball and scores a touchdown during the game against the University of Tennessee Martin on Saturday afternoon at O’Brien Field. (Audrey Sawyer/The Daily Eastern News)

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