It's all tied up in a neat little package for Slippery Rock University football coach George Mihalik.

All The Rock needs to do is find a way to open it.

SRU (6-3, 3-2) travels to Indiana University of Pa. (7-1, 4-0) for a 7 p.m. kickoff Thursday at Miller Stadium. A win would vault The Rock into the thick of the NCAADivision IIplayoff picture, knock its rival out of it and hand Mihalik his 127th career victory, breaking N. Kerr Thompson's school record.

And it all will happen on national television, including locally on Fox Sports Pittsburgh.

"When you put it all together, this is a great opportunity for our program to showcase itself,"Mihalik said.

But first things first. The Rock must figure out a way to defeat IUP, something it hasn't done in their last seven meetings — or since a 52-14 thrashing of the Indians at Miller Stadium in 1999.

In first-year IUPcoach Lou Tepper's mind, that seven-game streak means nothing.

"We've got six common opponents and our scores are pretty comparable throughout,"Tepper said. "It all adds up to a matchup that's too close to call."

Two elements count against The Rock in this matchup, however. SRUis minus 10 in turnover-takeaway margin while IUPis plus 10. And Chris Morgan is still playing tailback for the Indians.

Morgan has rushed for 472 yards in three previous games against Slippery Rock, including 168 and two touchdowns in IUP's 38-17 triumph last year.

Overall, Morgan leads the PSAC with 1,112 rushing yards, his 139 yards rushing per game ranking eighth in all of Division II. He has rushed for more than 100 yards in 21 of 26 games as IUP's starting tailback.

"He's the key to their offense and he's had huge games against us,"Mihalik said. "I've always been impressed with Morgan's combination of size, strength and speed."

Morgan's worst games as a collegian came against Edinboro, which held him to 40 and 50 yards, respectively, while Tepper was coaching the Fighting Scots.

"Chris was the happiest person to see me come here,"Tepper said, laughing.

IUPhas plenty of other weapons. Quarterback Kevin Weidl is back after missing the 2005 season and is 25-5 as a starter at IUP. He has thrown for 1,060 yards, seven touchdowns and only six interceptions.

By comparison, Rock quarterback Nate Crookshank has thrown 16 touchdown passes and 11 interceptions.

"That guy can hurt you with his legs and his arm,"Tepper said. "He puts pressure on every defense he faces."

Anthony Cellitti (23 catches for 235 yards) leads IUP's deep receiving corps. Linebacker Terrance Jackson leads the team with 52 tackles. Mike Reid has two interceptions and has returned two fumbles for touchdowns.

Rob Plowman has 14 tackles for loss and leads the PSACwith nine sacks.

IUPsuffered four turnovers in a 17-14 loss to Millersville in Week 3 — its only loss of the season.

"Our defense is very active and we've been forcing mistakes,"Tepper said. "When we haven't made mistakes, we've won."

Mihalik is familiar with that scenario as turnovers proved costly to The Rock in losses to Shippensburg and California (Pa.) this season.

"We seem to have corrected that problem the past two weeks,"Mihalik said. "Let's hope it continues."

Playing a Thursday night game is new to both veteran coaches. Tepper had his IUP team practice on a Sunday for only the second time in his 39 years of coaching.

Mihalik did not put his team on the field Sunday, but had it watch IUPgame films instead of reviewing SRU's overtime win over Edinboro last Saturday.

"A short week to get ready for a game of this magnitude only adds to the challenge,"Mihalik said.

"We're way out of the box in terms of routine," Tepper agreed.

IUP is ranked ninth and SRUis 12th in the Northeast Region rankings this week. The top six teams gain berths in the national playoffs. SRUends the regular season against West Chester — the seventh-ranked team in the region — next week.