Letterman's Breakfast: Carson-Newman College will hold its annual C-N Letterman's Club breakfast on Saturday morning at 8:30 a.m. in the three-gym area of the Maddox Student Activities Center.

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. -- When Carson-Newman and Catawba meet on the gridiron, one thing has become constant -- the game is usually decided by a touchdown or less.

The Eagles (4-2, 2-0 South Atlantic Conference) and Indians are set to square off on Saturday at 3 p.m. on homecoming at Burke-Tarr Stadium.

The last three games of the series have been decided by a combined 15 points. Catawba (3-2, 0-2) has won two of those meetings, including a 55-49 win on C-N's homecoming in 2007. Eagles head coach Ken Sparks said his team better be ready for a battle come Saturday.

"It's always been an exciting series," said Sparks, whose team defeated Catawba 21-14 last season. "They have a good football team. The last time they came in here on homecoming they beat us, and I'm sure they have visions of grandeur again. They will come in here ready to get after it, and we will have to play well."

C-N enters the contest riding a four-game winning streak, including an impressive 55-28 victory at Mars Hill last Saturday. The win vaulted the Eagles to a No. 23 ranking in the D2Football.com Media Poll and a No. 3 ranking in the first NCAA Super Regional Two Poll of the season.

Sparks believes his team is showing signs of becoming a good football team.

"I see some good things from them," he said. "I think we are moving in the right direction. We are still not a team that's playing every snap like we want to play it. We are trying to convince our guys that they can get better, and I think they believe they can get better."

The Eagles continued to produce offensively against the Lions as they amassed 441 yards of total offense. C-N was able to get back on track with its passing attack in the contest. Senior quarterback Alex Good (Greensboro, N.C.) completed 9-of-10 passes for 196 yards and a touchdown.

"When you complete 90 percent of your passes, we can live with that. It was a great game for (Good). He's a complete football player. He can throw it and run it. He probably could kick it," Sparks quipped.

Senior running back Buck Wakefield (Drummonds, Tenn.) rushed for 152 yards and three scores, giving him seven touchdowns in three games this season. Good added three touchdown runs in the win.

"(Buck is) special with getting the ball into the end zone," Sparks said. "When you get him and Reggie Hubbard (Chattanooga, Tenn.) and Alex well, they give us a pretty good combination of skill people."

Sparks was even more pleased with the effort he received from the defense against Mars Hill. The Eagles did give up three long plays of 65, 53 and 49 yards but they also forced four turnovers, including a fumble return for a touchdown, and had three sacks and eight tackles for a loss. Sophomore defense end Zeke Andrews (Eastman, Ga.) had a breakout game with four tackles and two sacks.

"They had almost 170 yards on three plays," Sparks said. "You take off that 170 yards, and it's a pretty dominant ballgame. The defense is playing better. Zeke had a great game. It's the first time we've had multiple sacks by one player in a long time, and that was great to see what he did. Again, I think the defensive coaches are doing a great job."

The Eagles defense will need another solid outing on Saturday against a Catawba offense led by North Carolina transfer Cameron Sexton. The senior signal caller has completed just 44 percent of his passes for 641 yards and four touchdowns, but Sparks said Sexton can still be dangerous.

"He has a big-league arm," Sparks said. "They are certainly letting him throw it a lot. We are going to have to figure out some way to get pressure on him and get a good mixture of coverage and pressure."

"He struggled a little bit this past week (against Newberry), but a lot of people struggle throwing against Newberry. We struggled throwing it against them. It's going to be a good challenge for us to see if we can play good pass defense against them."

Sparks said the ultimate challenge will be finding ways to score against a solid Indians defense. Catawba is near the top of the conference in several defensive categories, including second in scoring defense (16.2), second in pass defense (126) and second in total defense (272).

The Indians struggled in Saturday's 40-21 loss against Newberry, giving up 545 yards of total offense, but Sparks expects his team will see a refocused Catawba defense.

"I think they were leading the nation in a couple of categories until they got to Newberry," Sparks said. `I don't know what happened at Newberry, but they will be back against us. You can guarantee it. They always play us tough defensively."

Saturday's matchup will mark the 43rd meeting between C-N and Catawba. The Eagles hold a 32-9-1 lead in the series.