Senior quarterback Dan LeFevour was posed a simple sequence of questions.

In the small, damp room to the north of the field inside Kelly/Shorts Stadium, where the CMU football team holds its post-game press conferences, LeFevour was grilled about individual conquests, undefeated conference seasons and his last walk on the stadium’s turf following a collegiate game.

But through the fluff, LeFevour was asked how important Friday’s Mid-American Conference Championship game was and how much it meant to get back there after being denied in 2008.

After 12 weeks of football, CMU’s 8-0 MAC record would seem to mean relatively little compared to Friday’s outcome against Ohio.

The team is the first in program history to go through a conference schedule without a loss or a tie. But nobody will remember the first eight wins if it does not get the ninth.

Ball State

On Nov. 19, 2008, CMU lost its chance to head back to Detroit for its third consecutive MAC Championship game after losing to Ball State 31-24 in Kelly/Shorts Stadium.

The Cardinals finished their regular season 12-0 and a familiar 8-0 in conference play. But on Dec. 5, quarterback Nate Davis and the Cardinals were shocked by Buffalo, the MAC East representative. The Bulls’ 42-24 win started a skid for Ball State that has seen it lose 12 of its next 14 games, extending into this season and including a 45-13 loss in the GMAC Bowl last season to Tulsa.

For a team that peaked at No. 12 in the nation, the 2008 Cardinals will be remembered for their choking rather than for their brilliance.

2009 Chippewas

Even with two losses, CMU has done something even Ball State did not do last year: compete with major programs.

Ball State’s non-conference schedule featured one of four teams from a Bowl Championship Series conference. That team — Indiana (3-9) — lost not just to Ball State, but CMU as well.

This year, CMU beat Michigan State (6-6) from the Big Ten, lost to Arizona (7-4) from the Pac 10 by 13 points and, although losing by 21, held a 3-0 lead just minutes before halftime against Boston College (8-4) from the Atlantic Coast Conference.

And despite the season’s success, LeFevour was blunt in answering those questions posed to him after the NIU game.

He said getting back to this game meant everything. And in a championship, he acknowledged the winner-take-all format.

CMU has a chance to be remembered for its 2009 season; a season that, by most accounts, seems to have a bit of magic tied to it.

But that magic can dissolve, and LeFevour knows this. CMU will be remembered for Friday’s outcome rather than its previous eight MAC games.

It is a reality the 2008 Ball State Cardinals still live with today.

E-mail the author: Andrew Stover