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KICKOFF: The Engineers head to the North Country to face St. Lawrence University in a battle between two of the top three teams in the Liberty League ... RPI and SLU have identical 4-1 overall records with 2-0 league marks ... The winner remains in first place in the conference.

DEJA VU: Rensselaer was 4-1 and 2-0 heading into last season's matchup with SLU... RPI has been 4-1 in three of the last four years.

SLIPPED: The 2014 Engineers lost to St. Lawrence, 24-10 ... That loss was the first of a three game slide for RPI, which went from 4-1 to 4-4 before winning its final two regular season games.

AVERY LOST: In last year's game with St. Lawrence, a 24-10 defeat, Rensselaer lost starting quarterback Jeff Avery to injury early in that contest – and for the rest of the year.

FIVE OF SIX: The Engineers were last 5-1 in 2012 ... RPI finished 5-4 that season.

THE SERIES: RPI plays the Saints for the 61st time in its history, dating back to October 14, 1916 ... Rensselaer won the first meeting, 14-0 in Troy, but is 26-32-2 in the series history against St. Lawrence ... The Engineers' 60 games, 26 wins and 32 losses against the Saints are all fifth against any one opponent.

RECENTLY: Rensselaer is 6-4 in its last 10 games with St. Lawrence ... RPI is 6-4 in its last 10 contests in Canton, though just 1-3 in its last four ... The Engineers have scored 14 or fewer points in five of the last six meetings with the Saints, going 3-3.

THIS YEAR'S MATCHUP: The game on Saturday pits two of the top offenses in the Liberty League ... Rensselaer is first in total offense (420.4 yards per game) and passing efficiency (159.4) and third in both scoring offense (30.8 points per game) and passing offense (221.6) ... St. Lawrence is first in passing offense (251.2) and second in scoring offense (31.6) and passing efficiency (148.8).

DEFENSE, TOO: RPI is second in the league in total defense (259.8 yards allowed), pass defense (150.0), sacks (12) and scoring defense (13.4 points allowed) ... St. Lawrence is first in sacks with 23 and interceptions with five.

COMMON OPPONENT: Rensselaer and St. Lawrence have one common opponent to this point in the season ... Both teams defeated Norwich, with the Engineers winning 37-0 on September 5 and the  Saints winning 42-28 on September 12.

ENGINEERS LAST WEEK: Jeff Avery and Logan Gaddar connected for three touchdowns and Thomas Bennett, Anthony Pilla and Alexander Greenidge combined for 43 tackles to lead RPI to a 27-7 win over Merchant Marine ... Avery and Gaddar hooked up from 11 yards, 33 yards and 17 yards, while Bennett had a game-high 15 stops, including six solo ... Pilla and Greenidge both had 14 tackles with seven and four unassisted, respectively.

HONORED: Senior quarterback Jeff Avery was named the Offensive Performer of the Week following his performance against the Mariners ... It was the second straight weekly award for the captain, who completed 23 of 30 passes for 382 yards and the three touchdowns ... He now has 13 TD passes and no interceptions in five games ... Junior Thomas Bennett, a defensive lineman, was selected to the Weekly Honor Roll after recording a one-yard sack and two tackles for lost yards (2) among his game-high 15 stops (6 solo).