CHARLOTTE - Following a close 23-20 victory on the road at Southwest Mississippi last Thursday, the Northwest football program slid a spot from No. 7 to No. 8 in the latest batch of NJCAA Division I Football Rankings, released Monday afternoon.

Northwest (5-1) is one of three MACCC programs ranked in the Top 10 of this week's poll, preceded by Holmes (6-0) at No. 6 and seventh-ranked Mississippi Gulf Coast (5-1), which dropped from its previous No. 3 spot after last week's upset loss to East Central.

Itawamba (5-1) is the only other MACCC team ranked this week, as the Indians went from unranked to No. 14. Copiah-Lincoln is also receiving votes, but unranked.

Next up for Northwest is a road division contest at Mississippi Delta on Thursday, October 17 at 7 P.M. The Trojans (1-5, 0-3 MACCC North) are coming off a 52-21 loss to Holmes last week and have lost each of their last three games.

Northwest leads the all-time series against Mississippi Delta by a 49-23-2 margin. In last year's meeting in Moorhead, the Rangers captured a 31-13 victory against the Trojans, running their winning streak against MDCC to 11 games. Northwest has won 18 of the last 19 meetings against the Trojans, dating back to 2006.

Kickoff for Thursday's contest is scheduled for 7 P.M. at Jim Randall Stadium in Moorhead. Pregame coverage begins at 6:30 P.M. on the Ranger TV Network, including Action News 5 Plus, WHCQ-LD 8 and WEBU-LD 22.