Lance Kriesien

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FLAGSTAFF — Five years ago, Jerome Souers and the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks were knocking on the door of becoming a national powerhouse.

They were coming off a 9-4 season and a trip to the Division I-AA quarterfinals in 2003. NAU had made two playoff appearances in three years, and it looked like clear skies were ahead. Now, as Souers prepares for his 11th season as head coach of the Lumberjacks, he will look to get his team to the playoffs for the first time since that 2003 campaign.

NAU, ranked No. 18 by The Sporting News and No. 20 in the USA Today Sports Weekly preseason poll, finished 6-5 in 2007 for the second straight season and has gone 19-25 since its last playoff appearance.

This season, the Lumberjacks — who are picked to finish third in the league by the media and fourth by the coaches — return 13 players who started at least one game last year and also get back three players who were full-time starters in 2006 but missed the 2007 season with injuries.

"We're better than 6-5," said senior safety Adam Wright, one of the players who was granted a medical redshirt last season. "If we don't make the playoffs, it will be nothing but disappointment. That's what we're setting our standard as."

The biggest question mark for the Lumberjacks is who will start at quarterback for the Aug. 30 opener at Arizona State.

Senior Lance Kriesien is back after starting all 11 games last season. He threw for 1,897 yards, 10 touchdowns and seven interceptions last year and added 686 rushing yards. But Souers opened up the competition during fall practice. University of Mississippi transfer Michael Herrick and returning player Corey Slater, who missed nearly the entire 2007 season with a knee injury, have been battling for the No. 1 job.

"This is the most talent we've had at that position since I've been here," Souers said. "We'll assess every day, and go as far as we need to go to get a clear-cut No. 1. But we need to do it as soon as we can so we can get that guy the amount of reps he needs with our offense."

Whoever wins the job will have a reliable runner behind him. Junior Alex Henderson returns after picking up 899 yards last season in part-time duty; he was named All-Big Sky Preseason First Team last month.

On defense, senior cornerback K.J. Gerard returns — he's a third-team All-American last season by The Associated Press with six interceptions and 57 tackles. The Jacks recruiting class has made Souers giddy during fall practice. The coach said there are a number of true freshmen vying for playing time.

"Our recruiting efforts from the last three years have been really strong. But this last one might be over the top," Souers said. "It's still early, and they have a lot of learning to do, but as 18-year-olds go, this is probably the strongest class we've had."