A breakthrough, nine-win 2021 season had yielded to a nine-loss 2022 year, and Northern Illinois' 2023 season teetered on the brink of disaster before the calendar ever flipped to October.
Then, sources have shared with FootballScoop, the Huskies made a radical change that forever altered the course of this season.
After a 1-4 start to this season mirrored the 1-4 close to last season, NIU ratcheted up the responsibilities of first-year offensive assistant Wesley Beschorner.
Hired away from his post as Wisconsin-Eau Claire head coach and tabbed by Thomas Hammock as NIU's running backs coach and passing game coordinator last January, Beschorner, sources explained to FootballScoop, took on much of the offensive coordinator duties when the Huskies' early-season losing skid reached three games -- contests in which the offense mustered just 11, 11 and 14 points.
A week later, though still a loss, Northern Illinois churned Toledo for 33 points and snapped its streak at four consecutive losses the next game when Beschorner helped the Huskies torch Akron for 55 points.
That victory ignited a 5-2 closing sprint through the remainder of the season and set up Saturday's upcoming Camellia Bowl berth opposite Butch Jones and Arkansas State.
With Beschorner effectively serving as offensive coordinator, the Huskies averaged 30 points per game in earning NIU's 15th all-time bowl berth -- and the second of Hammock's five years at the helm.
NIU finished the regular season as the MAC's No. 4 scoring offense and its No. 2 unit in yards per game.
A former star quarterback at South Dakota, Beschorner had applied the foundation to his coaching career at his alma mater, where he served as quarterbacks coach, elevated to passing game coordinator and eventually became offensive coordinator.
The Beschorner impact at NIU has been undeniable. After the Huskies failed to score more than 24 points in their final five games of '22 and only did so once through this season's first four games, they scored 31 or more points four times down the stretch of this campaign.
Sources share Beschorner's status as offensive coordinator is set as NIU moves into their bowl game and looking forward to next season. Eric Eidsness is expected to shift into a different role.