CLARION — Numbers can be deceiving.

Clarion University's football team has lost 26 of 28 games under third-year head coach Jay Foster.

Slippery Rock University has won 10 of the last 11 games it's played against Clarion.

"This is going to be a whale of a football game,"SRUcoach George Mihalik said.

The Rock (3-3, 1-2) travels to Memorial Stadium for a 6 p.m. kickoff Saturday against Clarion (1-5, 0-3).

"They're looking for a jump-start and we don't want to slip,"Mihalik said. "We have to keep winning to maintain the tradition of our program.

"I'm sure they believe they can beat us. Why shouldn't they?They're close to being 3-3, which is what our record is right now."

Clarion dropped its season opener to Fairmont State on a last-second field goal and suffered a 31-24 loss to Gannon, having a touchdown called back and failing to score on three trips inside the red zone.

Foster served as defensive coordinator under Mihalik for 17 years before moving to Clarion.

"Slippery Rock is not last year's team,"Foster said. "Corey Manfull is beaten up, they don't have the leaders like Clint Forsha or Corey Lacek on defense anymore, they don't have a four-year starter at quarterback.

"But it's still SRU. It's still a successful program. I know the caliber of player they recruit in there. We're in the process of trying to get to that level."

Clarion has only six seniors and five juniors on its roster. The Eagles play 17 sophomores, and of the 28 freshmen who travel with the team, 20 of them get on the field.

"Really, I've only had two recruiting classes because I was hired so late during the offseason three years ago,"Foster said.

Clarion is led by third-year starting running back Eddie Emmanuel, who has 405 yards and two touchdowns this year.

Foster compared Emmanuel to Rick Magulick, a two-time 1,000-yard rusher on SRUplayoff teams of 1997-98.

"Eddie's not going to beat you with his speed, but he's a solid, strong kid who is always running downhill,"Foster said.

The Eagles have settled on a starting quarterback, sophomore Gino Rometo, who has completed 105 of 175 passes for 1,104 yards and five TDs.

Rometo has plenty of targets in receivers Jacque Robinson (38 catches for 454 yards) and Alfonso Hoggard (23-301), along with tight end Matt Foradora (23-216).

Tackle Jimmy Simmons, who missed last season with an injury, leads the Clarion defense.

Simmons was named the Division IINational Player of the Week for his performance against Fairmont State, which included 14 tackles and five tackles for loss. He is tied for the Division II lead with 15 tackles for loss this season.

"He's one of those kids who just disrupts an offense,"Foster said.

SRUis dealing with a number of injuries from last week's overtime loss at Indiana (Pa.). Defensive tackle Jason Curenton had surgery this week for an Achilles tendon injury and is out for the season.

Scott Kachurik, another defensive tackle, injured a knee and is out for two weeks. Cornerback-kick returner Tony Walls is probable with a hip injury.

Running back Damarcus Cleckley suffered a hip pointer and is doubtful for Saturday. Receiver Devin Goda and quarterback Brandon Frohnapple each suffered minor concussions and are listed as probable.

"We haven't had all three of our running backs healthy for a game yet,"Mihalik said. "We've been anxious to try out a package that involves all three on the field at the same time.

"To not be able to use that — it's frustrating."

Offensive lineman Brian Henion, out the past two games with a knee injury, has returned to practice but is questionable this week.

"This game may come down to whether our sophomores can beat their backups,"Foster said.