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Northern Illinois quarterback Chandler Harnish is a born leader on the field and a pretty modest guy for someone who led the Huskies to a 7-1 MAC West record, 9-3 overall.
Harnish has rushed for 1,351 yards and passed for 2,692 this season and will be a major factor tonight when NIU meets Ohio in the Mid-American Conference championship game at Ford Field.
On Wednesday, the 6-foot-2, 220-pound senior was named the winner of the Vern Smith Leadership Award, voted by the conference head coaches, and also was selected offensive player of the year in the MAC.
At Thursday's Northern Illinois news conference at Ford Field, Harnish typically downplayed his role in the team's success and had some fun, too, when a reporter asked him about "Harnishing," a new sensation sweeping the Internet.
On the Huskies year and his career at NIU, Harnish said: "It's been a lot of fun, and a heck of a career. I've been surrounded by a lot of great people and fortunate to play with a lot of great players and a lot of great coaches. But there is still unfinished business left on the table, and that's all I'm thinking about; it's something that we said last year right after we left this place -- that next year we are coming in and win it."
Harnish was referring to 2010, when underdog Miami (Ohio) beat the Huskies, 26-21, in the final minute of the MAC championship game, a crushing defeat for NUI, whose last outright MAC title was 28 years ago.
Added Harnish: "I said last week we haven't done anything yet -- everything is out there for us. We feel like our legacy is going to be left on Ford Field tomorrow night."
On his awards, Harnish said "it's a testament to my teammates I've been able to play with the last four, five years."
So, the "Harnishing" deal?
He cracked up while his roommate, Pat Schiller, a three-time Huskies captain and middle linebacker, explained: "Apparently, it's something he does after he scores. People just caught on when they noticed him doing it all the time. Unfortunately, I have to live with him. ... I hear about it all the time; I'm kind of trying not to support it."
Is it a "Tebowing" thing, another writer asked?
Harnish smiled and said: "I got a text on my way to class on Monday night, and I saw it. I didn't even realize that it had started to become a hit ... (it's) kind of something like 'Tebowing.' After TDs I like to point to the sky. I'm a man of faith. That's what I believe, but it kind of caught on and people are doing it on Twitter and Facebook. It's fun."
Harnish has rushed for 1,351 yards and passed for 2,692 this season and will be a major factor tonight when NIU meets Ohio in the Mid-American Conference championship game at Ford Field.
On Wednesday, the 6-foot-2, 220-pound senior was named the winner of the Vern Smith Leadership Award, voted by the conference head coaches, and also was selected offensive player of the year in the MAC.
At Thursday's Northern Illinois news conference at Ford Field, Harnish typically downplayed his role in the team's success and had some fun, too, when a reporter asked him about "Harnishing," a new sensation sweeping the Internet.
On the Huskies year and his career at NIU, Harnish said: "It's been a lot of fun, and a heck of a career. I've been surrounded by a lot of great people and fortunate to play with a lot of great players and a lot of great coaches. But there is still unfinished business left on the table, and that's all I'm thinking about; it's something that we said last year right after we left this place -- that next year we are coming in and win it."
Harnish was referring to 2010, when underdog Miami (Ohio) beat the Huskies, 26-21, in the final minute of the MAC championship game, a crushing defeat for NUI, whose last outright MAC title was 28 years ago.
Added Harnish: "I said last week we haven't done anything yet -- everything is out there for us. We feel like our legacy is going to be left on Ford Field tomorrow night."
On his awards, Harnish said "it's a testament to my teammates I've been able to play with the last four, five years."
So, the "Harnishing" deal?
He cracked up while his roommate, Pat Schiller, a three-time Huskies captain and middle linebacker, explained: "Apparently, it's something he does after he scores. People just caught on when they noticed him doing it all the time. Unfortunately, I have to live with him. ... I hear about it all the time; I'm kind of trying not to support it."
Is it a "Tebowing" thing, another writer asked?
Harnish smiled and said: "I got a text on my way to class on Monday night, and I saw it. I didn't even realize that it had started to become a hit ... (it's) kind of something like 'Tebowing.' After TDs I like to point to the sky. I'm a man of faith. That's what I believe, but it kind of caught on and people are doing it on Twitter and Facebook. It's fun."
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