No. 14 Northwestern hopes to accomplish two things on Saturday against Illinois.

First, the Wildcats want to claim the Land of Lincoln Trophy for a sixth straight season against their in-state rivals. Second, they want to tune things up in their final outing before the Big Ten Championship Game against No. 4 Ohio State the following week.

We talked to Doug Bucshon, the publisher of OrangeandBlueNews.com to get the inside scoop on the Illini, who sit at 2-4 and would love nothing more than to bring the Hat back to Champaign and send their enemies to Indianapolis with a regular season-ending loss.

Here is our Q & A:

1. Illinois, which had won two straight games and jumped out to a 14-0 lead against Iowa last week, with QB Brandon Peters going 8-for-8 passing. Then, the tables quickly turned, and the Illini didn’t score again until the final two minutes of a 35-21 loss. What happened? Did it have more to do with Iowa, or Illinois?