This week's players of the week in the Gateway Football Conference are QB Cody Kirby of Missouri State, LB Chauncey Mixon of Southern Illinois, punter Ben Nowicki of Youngstown State, and OT Kevaughn Brown of Missouri State.

Offensive
 QB Cody Kirby, Missouri State
 Fr., 5-11, 200, Rogers (Ark.) High
 Kirby hit 17-of-24 passes for a season-high 277 yards and season-high 4 TDs as Missouri State upset No. 22 Illinois State, 58-41, in Springfield, Mo.  He also rushed 12 times for 31 yards for 308 yards total of offense.  Kirby’s four TD passes were within one of the MSU single game school record of five, set in 1999 by Jay Rodgers and tied twice in 2003 by A.J. Porter.

Defensive
 LB Chauncey Mixon, Southern Illinois
 So., 6-1, 215, Mobile (Ala.) Davidson
 Chauncey Mixon registered a career and game-high 14 tackles against No. 10 Youngstown State on Saturday. Mixon also recorded one sack and 2.5 tackles for loss. Mixon sacked QB Tom Zetts for a loss of five yards on the Penguins’ last possession. The key play forced YSU to take its final timeout with 27 seconds left.  Mixon and the Saluki defense limited YSU to 17 points, the Penguins’ lowest point total in five games.

Special Teams
 P Ben Nowicki, Youngstown State
 So., 5-10, 175, Gilbert (Ariz.) Mesquite
 Nowicki had four punts for an average of 46.8 per kick and placed two inside the 20-yard line in YSU’s 24-17 defeat at Southern Illinois. Nowicki had punts of 42, 55, 46 and 44 yards. On of his punts was downed at the SIU two-yard line.

Offensive Lineman
OT Kevaughn Brown, Missouri State, Jr.
Graded out at 88% and had 8 knockdowns/pancakes and allowed no sacks in the Bears' 58-41 win against No. 22 Illinois State.

Other top performers from last week --

Offense
RB Herb Donaldson, WIU -- Rushed for 191 yards and a TD on 34 carries at Indiana St.
RB Deji Karim, SIU -- Scored the game-winning TD in SIU’s win vs. Youngstown State.
WR Ferlando Williams, YSU -- Caught a career-high seven passes for 43 yards while rushing for a career-high 87 yards on 15 carries while scoring two touchdowns at SIU.

Defense
LB Jerome Bennett, WIU -- Tallied nine tackles, forced a fumble and recovered a fumble in Western Illinois’ victory at Indiana State.
CB Marcus Colbert, MSU -- had five tackles, broke up three passes, including one in the ISU end zone, and had an interception.
LB Shonda Faulkner, INS -- Posted a career-high 19 tackles, with nine solos, vs. WIU.
CB Lenny Wicks, YSU -- Had 10 tackles, including eight solos, two pass breakups, a forced fumble and had an interception at SIU.

Special Teams
PK Taylor Rowan, WIU --  connected on a pair of field goals in Western’s win at INS, including a 50-yarder.  Also kicked off five times, sending two through the end zone and averaging 62.2 yards per kick.