CHARLOTTE - Following three straight victories, Northwest has risen to No. 10 in the latest NJCAA Division I Football Rankings, announced on Monday afternoon.

Now 3-1 on the season, the Rangers are up two spots from their previous slot of 12th. Hutchinson (Kan.), Iowa Western, Iowa Central, Mississippi Gulf Coast and Snow (Utah) round out the top five for this week.

Other MACCC programs represented in the rankings include Jones College (No. 9), Northeast (No. 12) and East Mississippi (No. 13). Copiah-Lincoln was not ranked, but was receiving votes.

Speaking of EMCC, Northwest will host the Lions on Thursday at Bobby Franklin Field for yet another nationally-ranked showdown between the two teams. Each of the last 10 meetings have featured both teams with a national ranking and at least one team has been nationally ranked leading into the contest in 14 of the last 16 contests, dating back to 2009.

Northwest leads the all-time series against East Mississippi by a 43-26-1 margin, as the two teams split results last season. In the regular season, the Rangers earned a 38-21 road win at EMCC, before falling to the Lions in the 2022 MACCC Championship on November 12, 2022.

Kickoff for Thursday's contest is set for 7 P.M., with pregame coverage beginning at 6:30 P.M. on Ranger TV, Action News 5 Plus and WHCQ-LD 8.