CHARLOTTE - After improving to 3-1 overall and 2-0 in the MACCC North Division with last week's 45-13 win against Northeast, Northwest has inched up one slot from 14th to 13th in today's latest NJCAA Division I rankings.

Monday's ranking announcement comes just days ahead of a North Division clash between the Rangers and East Mississippi, which climbed from No. 11 to No. 6 in the polls.

Joining the two schools in this week's rankings were fellow MACCC foes Jones College (No. 5), Mississippi Gulf Coast (No. 11) and Hinds (No. 13). Snow College (Utah) tops the national rankings with a 3-0 record, followed by Independence (Kan.), Iowa Western and Trinity Valley (Texas) at slots 2-4, respectively.

Thursday's battle between the Rangers and Lions will mark the eighth straight meeting where both teams were nationally ranked by the NJCAA and the 14th consecutive game where at least one team was ranked, dating back to 2009.

East Mississippi has roared to a 4-0 start after sitting out the entire 2020 season. The Lions' most recent victory came in a 49-7 win at Holmes last week.

In the last meeting between the two teams on October 3, 2019, seventh-ranked Northwest marched into Scooba and defeated then-No. 3 East Mississippi, 56-36. It marked the first home loss for the Lions since 2012 and the first regular season home loss since 2010 at Sullivan-Windham Field.

Kickoff for Thursday's matchup is set for 7 P.M. at Bobby Franklin Field. Tickets are available online only at nwccrangers.com/tickets and live coverage will kick off at 6:30 P.M. on Ranger TV (nwccrangers.com/watch), Facebook Live and WHCQ-LD Channel 8 in the Mississippi Delta.