In 2002, the league had a much different look.  The Missouri Valley Football Conference was known as the Gateway Football Conference.  The FCS was known as I-AA.  And Western Illinois was known as, well, it was also Western Illinois back then, too.
 
That year, a junior quarterback from Elk Grove, Ill., took over as starter for the Leathernecks and helped Western to one of its best two-year stretches in its history in the Conference.  After throwing just 32 passes in his first two seasons in Macomb as a backup, Russ Michna guided Western to a league co-championship in 2002 and back-to-back playoff berths in 2002 and 2003.
 
Michna led the team in passing as a junior and as a senior, throwing for 6,197 yards in that two-year span with 44 touchdown passes.  He still ranks second (3,160 in 2003) and fourth (3,037 in 2002) all-time at Western for single-season passing yards.  He is sixth all-time at Western in career passing yards and fifth in career TD passes, and he’s also fifth all-time at Western in career total offense. 
 
After leading the Leathernecks to a 10-1 record during the regular season, Michna engineered a convincing 48-9 playoff win against visiting Eastern Illinois by completing 11-of-17 passes for 164 yards and two TDs.  The Leathernecks dropped a hotly contested game against league member and eventual national champion Western Kentucky the following week.   A 61-yard field goal try by Mike Scifres with no time on the clock fell just short as the Hilltoppers celebrated a three-point win in Macomb.
 
“You talk about great endings there,” recalls Michna.  “I think that game featured two teams who were as closely matched as they could be.  It was one of the most amazing endings you've ever seen.  The last two minutes of that game was one of the most exhilarating and exhausting experiences I've ever had in my life.”  
 
In his two seasons as a starter, Western never lost a game against an FCS school by more than a touchdown.  Its 11-2 record in 2002 featured two losses decided on the final play.  The Leathernecks had an FBS win that year, too, knocking off Northern Illinois in DeKalb.  The Leathernecks finished 5th in the polls in both of his league MVP years (2002 and 2003) achieving its first and only No. 1 ranking in September 2003 before losing at eventual FBS national champion LSU.
 
“The rumbling of the field was amazing,” remembers Michna.  “It's the reason you play football, right?  The excitement, the intensity, the feeling of 100,000 people rooting against you.  The score was 13-7 early in the second half, and that place was silent.
 
“I think the thing that you remember the most about Western was the group of guys and how dedicated and talented we really were.  I didn’t have a great appreciation for it back then -- we were just playing football -- but we were a competitive team at any level and that LSU game was a perfect example of that.”
 
The 2003 season culminated with another trip to the playoffs, which included a first-round win at Montana.  The 2OT win at Montana in 2003 marked the first road playoff win for Western in its school history.  Michna again was crowned the league’s Offensive Player of the Year, and to date, only four players in league history have earned the honor in back-to-back years, including Michna in 2002 and 2003. 
 
Michna, who was inducted in the Western Illinois Hall of Fame in 2013, twice earned First Team Academic All-Gateway Conference honors, and was named Academic All-Conference three years.  After receiving his bachelor’s degree in Finance in 2002, Michna continued his football career with stops in the National Football League, Canadian Football League, United Football League, and Arena Football League.   Michna mentioned that his stint with the St. Louis Rams (NFL) was one of the most memorable in his professional football career, which ended in 2015.
 
“The opportunity to go and experience an NFL Training camp and be put on a roster, it was amazing and intense.”  He continued:  “It was one of the most competitive environments that you could ever be involved in, and it molded me so significantly as far as work ethic, my ability to handle ups and downs, and helping me change my perspective by realizing that you can only worry about the things you can control.”

Michna, who earned his master’s in Business Administration in 2004 from Western met his wife Kristin while he was playing for the Chicago Rush.  He’s currently working for a private consulting group, which specializes in back-office transformation.  His role is to help improve HR and finance departments for large multi-national companies.  The couple live in Austin, Texas, and have a young son Pierce.

“My experience at Western has truly had a beneficial impact on my life in so many ways,” Michna added.  “Joyous moments, difficult and disappointing moments, but it ultimately is about the relationships that were built there.  There are probably about 10 guys from those teams that I communicate with regularly, and we'll be lifelong friends.  I wouldn’t give that up for anything.”