DeKalb, Ill. – Northern Illinois University junior tailback Tre Harbison (Shelby, N.C./Crest HS) has been named a preseason candidate for the 2019 Doak Walker Award, which is presented annually to the nation's top collegiate running back by the PwC SMU Athletic Forum.  
 
Harbison became the first Huskie to rush for 1,000 yards in a season since 2015 when he totaled 1,034 yards on 206 carries as a sophomore in 2018. The second team All-Mid-American Conference selection ranked third in the MAC in rushing yards while averaging 5.0 yards per carry. He posted five 100-yard rushing games on the year and was a two-time MAC West Offensive Player of the Week selection. Harbison scored five rushing touchdowns, including the game-winner in the third overtime at Eastern Michigan.
 
Harbison surpassed the 1,000-yard mark in the Cheribundi Boca Raton Bowl game versus UAB, becoming the 18^th NIU player to achieve that milestone and the first since Joel Bouagnon in 2015. Harbison joined his new head coach, former Huskie running back Thomas Hammock, in that 1,000-yard club as Hammock accomplished the feat in 2000 and 2001. Hammock was a preseason candidate for the Doak Walker Award in 2002.
 
Harbison is one of six Mid-American Conference backs on the Doak Walker Award preseason list. He is the second Huskie to be honored this preseason as linebacker Antonio Jones-Davis was named to the Chuck Bednarik Award Watch List on Monday (July 15).   
 
The defending MAC Champion Huskies open the 2019 season at home on Saturday, August 31 when intra-state foe Illinois State visits Huskie Stadium for the first time since 2000 in the first of a five-game home schedule.
 
NIU Football season tickets and three-game mini-plans are on sale now online at NIUHuskies.com/MyHuskies, by calling the Huskie Ticket Office at 815-753-PACK (7225) or at the NIU Convocation Center Ticket Office, which is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Current football ticket options include season tickets for all five home games, starting at as little as $55 per ticket with the Huskie Family Pack or $60 for general admission (East Side) tickets. Mini-plans, offering three games of your choice (two Saturday and one MACtion) on the West Side are available for $70. Earlier today, NIU introduced the Huskie Flex Pass, allowing fans to purchase five or more tickets to any game or combination of games this year for $15 each. To inquire about group tickets (minimum of 15 people) for any game this season, call 815-753-PACK (7225).
 
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