ABILENE, Texas - Despite the hoopla of an 8-2 season, a rowdy reaction to the NCAA Division III Playoffs selection show, and the plethora of “firsts” achieved by the 2011 McMurry University football team, on Saturday those things must become a distant memory. The No. 15-ranked War Hawks take on No. 11-ranked Trinity at Tiger Field Saturday at Noon beginning a new season.

The 32-team bracket calls for a team to win five games to become a national champion, and McMurry head coach Hal Mumme and the War Hawks will continue with their clichéd theme, no matter how much the circumstances have changed: “It's the only game we get to play Saturday, so we're going to try and win it.”

While the coaches and players can narrow the scope to the Tigers Saturday, it would be hard for the rest of the McMurry community to ignore the magnitude of what has happened, and has happened so fast.

A 16-63 record from 2001-2008, which includes an 0-10 season in 2008 to cap it all off. Enter Hal Mumme in 2009. First step, snap the losing skid; he did that at 17 and McMurry went 4-6 and 4-4 in the American Southwest Conference. In 2010, the team puts together its first winning record in a decade at 6-4 overall and finished 4-4 in league play again.

In 2011, an 82-6 loss to Division I FCS Stephen F. Austin to open the year brought back doubters to McMurry's program, except the players and staff. The War Hawks rebounded by silencing a crowd of 31,000+ at the Alamodome in San Antonio taking down Division I FCS UT-San Antonio 24-21.

Had a two-point conversion on the road in the closing minutes been successful in the closing minutes Sept. 17 against No. 3-ranked Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton, McMurry may have pulled off the largest upset in recent memory, however, the War Hawks fell 28-27.

From there, the roller coaster season began to make a steady climb as the War Hawks rattled off seven-straight victories including its first win over Hardin-Simmons since 1963 and a road-win over nationally-ranked Louisiana College to ensure an 8-2 season, a spot in the NCAA Division III playoffs and ensured at least a tie for the second-best win total in school history.

But the community must attempt to come crashing back to earth and join the philosophy of Mumme and the War Hawks as Saturday's obstacle is the 10-0 Trinity Tigers, who are on a 11-game winning streak.

Trinity, under head coach Steve Mohr, have reached the NCAA Playoffs 11 times since 1994 including a national title game appearance in 2002. The Tigers' last appearance in the playoffs was in 2007.

“Trinity's got a great program, a storied program, they've been to the playoffs a hundred times, they've been a lot,” said Mumme.

Mumme's first game as McMurry head coach was against the Tigers in Abilene when McMurry fell 31-26.

Other than that brief familiarity, the only common element to these two teams in 2011 is Texas Lutheran. The Tigers defeated TLU Sept. 10 43-14 while McMurry took down the Bulldogs 60-16 Oct. 15.

Opponents and location do not matter to senior tight end Delfonte Diamond. McMurry was in the running to host a playoff game after the NCAA requested that the school bid, but the War Hawks were picked to return to San Antonio for the second time this season.

“It doesn't matter where we play it's going to be a dog fight wherever we go, and no matter where we go, we're still going to come out with the win,” Diamond said.

While Diamond and the War Hawks have every reason to be confident, the Tigers do as well.

Trinity took down two ASC opponents to start the season, won non-conference matchups against Huntingdon and LaGrance, and rolled through the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference schedule with a 6-0 record. The Tigers' key win this season came in game No. 9 when the team defeated nationally-ranked Centre 20-14. The victory knocked Centre out of playoff contention and the Tigers survived a scare to end the season by defeating Austin College 7-6.

While Mumme is resigned to the coach-speak “one game at a time” theory, as all good head coaches do, he does realize the game will have a more intensive feel. In addition, as McMurry transitions to the NCAA Division II in 2012, it could be the last time the War Hawks see the postseason as they'll undergo a probationary period as provisional members.

“We only had one more year to do it, so the timing was good I guess,” Mumme said. “It's just good to be able to play in the postseason no matter what level you're at or where you're at. It's always great memories for your kids, particularly the seniors.”

There are 21 seniors on the roster, 12 of which were on that 2008 team without Mumme and went 0-10. The proud dozen will take the field with a sense of legacy Saturday and coach Mumme said that is what makes him most proud of the turn around.

“It's really special for all of them, and we've got guys like John Duplichan and Bertrick Ervin our two guards,” said Mumme. “Those guys don't get their names in the paper very much, but they have just worked so hard and really have bought into everything we were selling as a staff and helped pull everybody else together.”