RPI coach Joe King and Union coach John Audino stand with The Dutchman Shoes Trophy on Wednesday on the RPI campus.

(Amie Canfield - RPI Athletics)

It's that time of the year and even though the RPI/Union football game isn't the final game of the year, it still means everything to these programs and their schools alike.

The media luncheon was today and here were some of the highlights....

Union's had two weeks to prepare for this game so I asked senior linebacker Joe Catalano if these last couple of days should be a breeze preparing.

"A breeze, but a very intense breeze," Catalano said. "You can't have enough preparation for this type of offense. It's tricky."

Here's how RPI senior quarterback Jimmy Robertson described the atmosphere.

"Fun is the only word I can use to explain it," Robertson said. "We're out in practice every day, having fun, excited."

I then tried to get Robertson to say that since this Union teamed seemed down coming in to the season, this game would be a little easier than normal - no luck.

"They started out a little slow, but in the past weeks they've beaten Hobart and had some good wins. They are still in the hunt for the Liberty League title, just like us. It's win or go home for them in terms of the (league) title. We're expecting their 'A' game, we have to bring ours, so it should be a fun game on Saturday."

I asked both RPI coach Joe King and Union coach John Audino about their most distinct memory of the rivalry for them.

"Anytime we win and there haven't been that many of them, they certainly stand out," King said. "Probably the one that stands out the most was in 1987. We were not a very good football team. We were 1-4 and I think they were 4-1 or 5-0 and we played at our place and we just got on a roll that day. Did we have any business beating them? Probably not, but we did a lot of things right, ended up winning that game and that turned our season around."

"There's two," Audino said. "In 1993, when we were undefeated at 9-0. We had a very good defensive team and a good offensive team, but we were able to win the game. Two years ago, when we beat them 49-42 to clinch an undefeated season again, in a track meet, which was a very exciting game. I think those two games were the most exciting games, probably for me, and stand out in my mind at this point."

To finish, Coach King gave me his best Bill Belichick impersonation when I asked about sophomore running back Nick Costa, who left the Susquehanna game early with a knee injury and didn't play last week against St. Lawrence.

"We're not sure," King said. "Even if I knew, which I don't, I probably wouldn't tell you."

Costa rushed for 160 yards last year in a 20-14 RPI win.

Then I asked what was wrong with him and King answered.

"He's got an injury."

Touché.