Veteran West Liberty University head coach Roger Waialae says his Hilltoppers will be looking to "finish the job" on Saturday when the Black and Gold close out the regular season at Notre Dame (Ohio).

Kickoff is set for noon at Mueller Field in what figures to be a cold and windy South Euclid, Ohio.

West Liberty (6-4, 6-3) and Notre Dame (6-4, 6-3) are the two biggest "surprise" teams in the Mountain East Conference. Picked to finish tied for seventh in the coaches' preseason poll, both teams have already clinched winning seasons with Saturday's winner guaranteed at least a share of third place in the final MEC standings.

The Hilltoppers have won four of their last five games to fuel their climb up the MEC ladder, a surge which has gone a long way toward erasing the memories of last year's disappointing 3-8 campaign.

"You want to put yourself in position to be playing meaningful games in November," Waialae said. "We've been able to put some wins together down the stretch which gives us the opportunity to go on the road against a very good football team and continue to build on that success heading into next season."

West Liberty comes into Saturday's game off a 35-20 win against UVA-Wise. QB Dakota Conwell fired four TD passes – two each to TE Daree Goodwin and WR Anton McCallum – and went over 200 yards through the air while RBs Isiah Moody and R.J. Thomas keyed a solid rushing attack that added 180 yards on the ground.

Notre Dame figures to present quite a challenge for the Hilltopper defense. Senior QB Ray Russ ranks No. 3 nationally with an average of 345.4 passing yards per game and 32 TD passes while sophomore WR Mitchell Shegos has caught a staggering 98 passes – No. 2 in the nation – for 1,118 yards. Shegos leads a talented receiving corps featuring 7 players with at least one catch of 40 yards or longer and 5 players with 4 or more TD catches.

"They've completely changed their offense from last year when they had one of the top running backs in the region," Waialae said. "Now they throw the ball almost 70 percent of the time and they really throw it well. Their receivers are really good after the catch and they look to take advantage of that with a lot of bubble screens, trying to get them out in space. If we don't tackle well, they can turn a short gain into a big play very quickly."

The Falcons have struggled with inconsistency at times. They're coming off a disappointing 51-14 blowout loss at No. 12 Concord in which they surrendered more than 600 yards of total offense but they're also the only Mountain East team to beat No. 21 Shepherd in the past two years, stunning the then No. 10-ranked Rams, 35-34, behind 5 touchdown passes from Russ.

The Hilltoppers will try to control the game on the ground after getting a combined 146 yards on 24 attempts – an average of 6.1 yards per carry – from the running back tandem of Isiah Moody and R.J. Thomas last week but special teams and turnovers could be the difference on Saturday.

Notre Dame rode a pair of interception return TDs to a 30-13 win against West Liberty a year ago and the Falcons lead the MEC this season with 3 defensive scores. The Ohio school also features a pair of dangerous return men. Shegos is averaging nearly 12 yards per punt return and had a 77-yard punt return TD against West Virginia State while Emmanuel Smith has returned two kickoffs for touchdowns this fall, including a 95-yard runback at Concord last week.

"We have to go up there and establish the run in order to create opportunities in the play-action passing game and we have to take care of the football," Waialae said. "Defensively, we need to take away the run, limit the yards after catch for their receivers and try to force some turnovers. We know they're going to throw it a lot so our guys have to be ready to make a play on the ball when the opportunity presents itself."

GAME NOTES

X Dakota Conwell's 22 TD passes this year are tied with Jay Gullion (2006) for No. 5 all-time at WLU

X West Liberty has scored 36 TDs through the first 10 games. That's the most by a Hilltopper team since the 2010 squad had 65 touchdowns

X The WLU defense leads the MEC and ranks No. 4 nationally in stopping 4th-down conversions, turning the ball over on downs 19 times in 24 tries

X Notre Dame WR Mitchell Shegos tied an NCAA Division II single-game record with 23 catches in a 41-38 loss at Glenville State on Oct. 25

X Shegos shares that mark with Glenville's Chris George (vs. W.Va. Wesleyan, 10/15/94) and Alabama A&M's Barry Wagner (vs. Clark-Atlanta, 11/4/89)

X QB Ray Russ has thrown for 2,045 yards and 17 TDs in his last 5 games – an average of 409 yards per game