The Illinois seniors will look to end a rollercoaster ride of a career on a high Saturday as they take on Northwestern at Memorial Stadium (11:10 a.m., ESPN-Plus).

The Illini's 19 seniors, who have seen many ups and downs since arriving in Champaign in 1999 (2000 for those who didn't redshirt), will play their fifth and last season-ending matchup against the Wildcats.

"It makes me think I'm old," Illini safety Marc Jackson said. "It's been a long time, but it hasn't. Things have gone by so fast. It's going to be a lot of emotion, not just for me, but for all the seniors stepping out on the field the last time."

Jackson and the other seniors, who were all named game-day captains, have seen the annual end-of-the-season game against the Wildcats hold all different meanings.

In the seniors' first year in 1999, the Illini finished off the Wildcats 29-7 on their way to a MicronPC.com Bowl berth.

In 2000, Northwestern's win gave them a share of the Big Ten title.

In 2001, Illinois turned the tables to win the conference title outright at home and head to the Sugar Bowl.

And last year, the Illini's win helped to recover from a 1-5 start and restore a bit of lost confidence.

In this year's game, while Northwestern has motivation to get its sixth win and a possible bowl game, the Illini have no such lofty stakes. This week's motivation for the Illini seniors is simple — to go out victorious just like they came in.

"I just want to win," Jackson said. "All that other stuff — the trophy and them not going to a bowl game — that's just icing on it."

They'll have a little extra help with the return of running back E.B. Halsey, receiver Kelvin Hayden and defensive tackle Jeff Ruffin from injury.

And they'll also be rejuvenated after a week off as they try to steal away their first win in two and a half months from a Wildcats team (5-6, 3-4) that has had an up and down season.

"There's a lot of energy. I think coming off a bye helped us," Illinois head coach Ron Turner said. "There's a lot more bounce in our step. A lot more energy."

Questionable bowling

If the Wildcats can walk away from Champaign with a win Saturday, they will finish their season 6-6 and become bowl eligible. However, that doesn't mean they're going to a bowl game.

The Big Ten has seven bowl game tie-ins, which are already filled by seven Big Ten teams with better records than Northwestern. So in order for the Wildcats to get into post-season play, the Big Ten would have to send two teams to the Bowl Championship Series games, leaving an open non-BCS bowl for the Wildcats.

The most likely way for that to happen?

Either Ohio State (10-1) or Michigan (9-2) goes to the national championship game at the Sugar Bowl. That fate will likely be decided when the Buckeyes and Wolverines face off in Ann Arbor, Mich., Saturday at 11 a.m.

Ohio State currently sits in second place in the BCS rankings with just a slight edge over USC.

Turner's take

"A lot of weapons, very explosive on offense. ... Probably the strength of their team is their receivers. Quality depth at receivers — and they're capable of making big plays. ... The biggest difference in this team than what I've seen in the past is they're much better defensively. It's a lot of the same people as we saw a year ago, but they're grown up, they're bigger, they're better."

Series history

The Illinois-Northwestern series is the longest running in Illini history. Illinois has the all-time edge at 51-40-5, including wins in four of the last five games.

In the teams' meeting last year, the Illini edged the Wildcats 31-24 in Evanston, Ill., to finish the season 5-7.