SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. - The Shippensburg University football team will be seeking its first divisional victory of the season on Thursday night at 8 p.m. from Farrell Stadium against the Golden Rams of West Chester. The Red Raiders are seeking their 400th victory as a NCAA institution.

The game is being broadcast live on the CBS College Sports Network, available on Comcast Digital channel 274, DirecTV channel 613 and Dish Network channel 152. Jason Knapp and Akbar Gbaja-Biamila will handle the announcing duties. Fans can also watch the game online here.

Shippensburg and West Chester are the only institutions from the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference and two of just 12 Division II programs in the nation granted the privilege this season to be featured on CBS College Sports Network that reaches approximately 32 million homes throughout the United States.

The road to a conference title defense is a difficult journey: of SU's first seven games this season, last week's opponent Kutztown is the only squad that had a losing record in 2009. However, the Golden Bears (5-0) are off to their best start in program history.

This season has been a tale of two halves for the Red Raiders. SU has out-scored opponents 66-45 in the first half through five games. Unfortunately, opponents have out-scored Shippensburg by a 100-46 margin during the second half this season.

Red Raider senior tailback Kevin Marshall has been one of the team's most valuable offensive players through five games. Marshall leads the Red Raiders with 269 rushing yards and four touchdowns in addition to having a team-high 13 receptions for 203 yards and a touchdown. He is 26 yards short of moving into fifth place on SU's all-time all-purpose yards list, having totaled 667 through five games.

The Red Raiders are looking to maintain an impressive streak on the offensive side of the ball, having scored at least two touchdowns in 19 straight contests. SU has recorded at least one rushing touchdown in nine straight games. Overall, SU has reached paydirt nine times this season on the ground and averages 151.6 rushing yards per game.

When Shippensburg has success through the air, odds are that one of the team's pass completions will go for a big gain. The Red Raiders have had at least one pass completion of 25 yards or more in 37 consecutive games, including touchdown passes this season of 35, 41, 44 and 50 yards.

Defensively, Shippensburg has wreaked havoc in the opponent's backfield. Boasting an average of 8.40 tackles for loss per game, the Red Raiders rank 20th in Division II for the category and third in the PSAC. Riley Bowen and Erik Van Ness are among the team's individual leaders in tackles for loss per game. The team has compiled at least 6.0 tackles for loss in every game this season and at least 5.0 tackles for loss in 15 consecutive games dating back to Week 2 of the 2009 season.

The Wing-T establishes a strong tempo in the run game. SU has run the ball at least 25 times in 29 straight games and helped the Red Raiders lead the PSAC last season in time of possession. Shippensburg has totaled 300 or more yards of total offense in every game this season.

Traveling back to West Chester always holds some special meaning to Coach Rees. His 40-year coaching career started with the Golden Rams as a graduate assistant coach under his former coach, Dr. Bob Mitten. Rees was also a Hall of Fame fullback at West Chester.

Full notes can be accessed above.

NOTE: The game will be replayed Friday on the CBS College Sports Network at the following times: 12:30 a.m., 6 a.m., 11 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Go to http://www.cbscollegesports.com/schedule/ for the complete listing of replays. Thanks to director of broadcasting Mike Gardner for the note.