Saturdays in the fall normally mean football comes to campus. However, two Division II games this week will attract thousands of fans to big-time off-campus stadiums.

Northwest Missouri State and Pittsburg State will meet in the Fall Classic at Arrowhead Stadium, home of the Kansas City Chiefs, and Texas A&M-Commerce will play Abilene Christian in the second annual Harvey Martin Classic in Dallas’ historic Cotton Bowl.

The Pittsburg State-Northwest Missouri State game was first staged at Arrowhead in 2002 when the Northwest Missouri stadium was being renovated. Bearcats Director of Athletics Bob Boerigter knew the facility was in no condition to accommodate the crowd for its game against the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association rival Gorillas.

Boerigter needed to come up with a solution, and he ran it past his president.

“He asked me what I had in mind, and when I told him Arrowhead Stadium, he looked at me like I had a screw loose,” Boerigter said. “Finally, he said go and check it out. I made several calls and eventually got to the right person. We negotiated a deal with them, and they made it very affordable for us to do it.”

The conversations revealed that Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt was a huge college football fan and that then-President and General Manager Carl Peterson had begun his coaching career at the Division II level.

The first game was a huge success, drawing 26,965 fans. The next year, Pittsburg State and the Chiefs reached a similar agreement. That game drew a crowd of 20,342. All three parties knew they had a good thing going and signed a series of two-year contracts to keep the game at Arrowhead at least through 2010.

“From an administrative standpoint, this is a tremendous financial opportunity,” said Bill Kroenke, Pittsburg State’s assistant athletics director of marketing and promotions. “This is vital revenue for us.”

Through the years, attendance has averaged more than 22,300, more than double or even triple the 6,000 to 10,000 the teams would normally draw on their campuses.

Boerigter said the agreement means his athletics department takes home twice the revenue it would than for a game played on campus. The institutions share all expenses and split revenue down the middle.

“That includes everything from alumni activities to public address scripts, to making a game program, ordering press box food and dealing with suite holders,” said Dan Wilkes, Pittsburg State’s assistant athletics director for media relations. “For two rival schools, there is a lot of mutual respect among the two programs.”

Kansas City is about 100 miles from both campuses, and both schools have significant alumni populations in the area.

“This game has become a second homecoming,” Boerigter said. “We have people who fly in for this game from all over the country. Initially when that began, people thought it might negatively impact our regular homecoming, but that hasn’t happened. This game is an enhancement.”

About the only thing the teams don’t share is the tailgating. When it comes to pregame festivities, the Gorillas and Bearcats stay separated.

“We don’t try to mingle in that regard,” Boerigter said.

The stakes are always high since the two teams have combined to play in the last five Division II championship games. This year, Pittsburg State enters the game ranked fourth in the American Football Coaches Association Division II poll; Northwest Missouri, which lost its season-opener at Abilene Christian, is seventh.

The gates open at four hours before kickoff, and the fans always anticipate a Hatfields-and-McCoys type of intensity on the field.

“Both fan bases look at the game as if it doesn’t make or break you, but this game can be a sign of having a real good season,” Wilkes said.

Since the regular-season game has been at the neutral site, the Gorillas and Bearcats have had postseason rematches three times, including last season when Northwest Missouri State took a last-minute 38-35 decision in Maryville.

The Pittsburg State Web site has a clock that has been counting down to the kickoff all week. Sororities and fraternities organize events that center around the game as well as other alumni events.

For the players, it is the opportunity of a lifetime to compete in an NFL stadium. It’s also great for constituent groups.

“Coach (Chuck) Broyles is amazed how many times he gets stopped around the Kansas City area and somebody will say, ‘Hey, you don’t know me, but I played in the band and you don’t know what a big deal it was for me to play in Arrowhead Stadium,’ ” Wilkes said. “They say it was the highlight of their career.”

Harvey Martin Classic

This is the second year that Texas A&M-Commerce has hosted the Harvey Martin Classic in the Cotton Bowl. Last year, the Lions downed East Central Oklahoma State, 27-15, in the inaugural game.

The game came into being as a way to honor Martin, a Dallas native and one of the institution’s most famous alums, and to give their fans the chance to attend a game in the largest metropolitan area in northern Texas.

“We have 25,000 alumni in the Dallas metroplex,” said Lions Director of Athletics Carlton Cooper. “We want to reconnect with them and bring a game to them. We want this program to reach the point where it is regionally and nationally recognized.”

Martin, who died in 2001, led Texas A&M-Commerce to the 1972 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics championship.

He went on to a stellar career with the Dallas Cowboys where he was the co-Most Valuable Player in Super Bowl XII and the NFL’s defensive player of the year in 1977. Martin was also named to four Pro Bowls in his career.

This year, the Lions are taking on second-ranked Abilene Christian, which also has strong ties to the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Abilene is about 200 miles west.

Ancillary events include a reception and luncheon, where Martin’s former Dallas Cowboy teammates Rayfield Wright and Drew Pearson will be the featured speakers. On Friday, they will host a golf outing at The Golf Club in Castle Hills.