DEKALB, Ill. – Northern Illinois University's Sutton Smith continues to garner preseason attention as the Huskie defensive end was named to the Ted Hendricks Award Watch List Monday.
 
A finalist for the Ted Hendricks Award last year, Smith has also been named to the Bednarik and Nagurski Award Watch Lists this preseason.
 
Last year, Smith became just the second player in school history, and the first since LeShon Johnson in 1993, to be named a consensus All-American. He collected first-team All-America honors from Walter Camp and the FWAA, and second team accolades from the AP, AFCA and Sporting News.
 
A native of St. Charles, Mo., Smith led the Football Bowl Subdvision (FBS) in tackles for loss with 29.5 and broke the school record for sacks in a single season with 14, which tied for the FBS lead a year ago. The 2017 Mid-American Conference Defensive Player of the Year, Smith also forced and recovered three fumbles in 2017, returning two for scores.
 
Smith, one of two players of the Mid-American Conference on the watch list, is one of three Huskies named to a preseason watch list this year. Left tackle Max Scharping (Green Bay, Wis./Southwest) was named to the Outland and Wuerffel Trophy Award Watch Lists, while Luke Shively (Tipton, Ind./Tipton) was named to the Rimington Trophy Award Watch List.
 
The Huskies kick off the 2018 campaign at Iowa Saturday, Sept. 1 and will welcome Utah the following weekend to Huskie Stadium. Season ticket packages start as low as $55 in 2018 with the Huskie Stadium Family Pack (four tickets for $220), while a general admission ticket on the East Side is only $60. Mini-plans were introduced last week. Fans can pick two Saturday games and one midweek MACtion game for $70. Single game tickets for all five 2018 NIU home football games are on sale NOW online at NIUHuskies.com or by calling 815-753-PACK (7225).
 
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