The magnitude of Saturday's NJCAA football game between the third-ranked Chaparrals and No. 1 Nassau isn't lost on head coach Matthew Rahn.
 
Win and a spot in the Division III national championship game on Dec. 4 here at Bjarne Ullsvik Stadium seems to be a given. A loss could end any hope of playing in the postseason.
 
"The importance of Saturday's game is what it means in terms of the back-end of the season and the postseason,'' he said. "They're top-ranked and we're third and Saturday's winner will be sitting on the top spot for the rest of the season.''
 
The 3-1 Chaps take on the unbeaten Tigers (4-0) at noon Eastern time at the Mitchel Athletic Complex in Garden City, N.Y., a stone's throw away from Nassau Coliseum where a young Julius Erving performed his magic for the New York Nets in the long-ago gone American Basketball Association.
 
The road trip started early for the Chaps, who embarked on their 800-mile plus road trip Thursday morning.
 
"So many of our kids are 18 years old,'' Rahn said. "It's a long trip to Long Island, and we've got to treat this as a business trip. We talk about our older guys setting and leading by example on how to go about preparing for games. We need everyone to be locked in and focused on the task at hand.''
 
The game promises to be an epic one on both sides of the ball. On offense, the Chaps rank third in total offense in the division (376.8 yards per game) with the Lions fifth (353 ypg). On defense, Nassau allows just 174.3 yards a game, second in the division and COD fifth (286.3).
 
Nassau ranks first in points allowed (7.3 points) and the Chaps second (15 points).
 
Rahn feels comfortable knowing the Chaps have the tools to succeed Saturday.
 
"Every game we've been able to do what we've wanted to do,'' he said. "But the self-inflicted wounds — penalties, dropped and overthrown passes, turnovers — those are the reasons we've struggled at times. When we put it all together, we can beat any team in the country at any level.''
 
Sophomore running back Darrell Smith leads the Chaps' ground game with 270 rushing yards and ranks second in the division with 6.8 yards/rush.
 
Defensive end Tom Trieb's 7.5 sacks is fifth in the division and second in tackles for loss (12.5).