October 29, 2026 - 5:58 pm

Fresh off its second bye week of the season, UNLV football returns to action in Week 9 against Northern Illinois on Halloween night at Allegiant Stadium.

In its first season in the Mountain West after leaving the Mid-American Conference this past offseason, NIU has struggled to find success, entering the matchup winless through seven games and 0-3 in conference play.

The six-time MAC champion is two years removed from a notable upset, when the Huskies defeated then-No. 5 Notre Dame 16-14 in South Bend.

Despite NIU’s record, UNLV coach Dan Mullen said a team searching for its first win can be especially dangerous for the Rebels, who are looking to extend their streak of consecutive conference championship game appearances to four.

“We usually get everybody’s best shot,” Mullen said. “Everybody when the schedule comes out and UNLV comes on, that is the game that gets circled for every team, so we got to be ready for that.

“(NIU)’s got really good players.…