The Duquesne University football players and coaches talked about it, felt it and looked at it as they trotted onto the field for the first day of practice Monday.

Mostly, they were excited about it.

In addition to joining the Northeast Conference, the Dukes are offering athletic scholarships for the first time. Meanwhile, Rooney Field has been renovated with the construction of permanent grandstand seating flanking the press box, concession stands, and the installation of a new playing surface and additional rows of cement seats on the visitor's side.

"You could sense everyone's excitement the minute they left the locker room," coach Jerry Schmitt said. "We're moving forward in a lot of areas."

The Dukes, who dominated the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference the past several years, will be eligible to participate in a bowl game for the first time since 2003. The NEC champion will meet the Pioneer Conference champion in the third Gridiron Classic on the home field of the NEC team.

"That's one more thing for our kids to get excited about," Schmitt said. "The NEC is a big step up for us, but we'd like to continue the same success we had in the MAAC."

Duquesne was 75-9 while winning 11 of 14 titles as a member of the now-defunct MAAC. The Dukes outscored opponents by 26.7 points per game and won 39 consecutive conference games from 1999-2006.

The Dukes, 3-1 last season against NEC teams and 14-7 against current NEC teams, return 13 starters from a 6-4 team. Although they are looking for starters at linebacker and in the offensive line and secondary, the most intriguing competition will be at quarterback between incumbent Kevin Rombach and transfer Connor Dixon.

Rombach completed 61.1 percent of his passes for 2,410 yards and 20 touchdowns last season. Dixon, who led South Park High School to a 16-0 record and a PIAA Class AA title in 2005, was the backup at Michigan State last season, seeing action only in the opener when he completed 3 of 5 passes for 37 yards against UAB. He was redshirted in 2006.

"Dixon will compete right away. He has that kind of talent," Schmitt said. "For consistency, I would prefer to have one guy lead the team. But we'll run the same offense here we've run the past 15 years no matter who the quarterback is."

Schmitt moved Greg Hough, the leading rusher last season, to linebacker, where he was a first-team All-MAAC performer in 2006. Cleo Williams, academically ineligible the past two seasons, will be the featured running back in a pass-oriented attack.

"Williams has a little more burst of speed and is a fluid runner," Schmitt said of the 200-pound junior. "We'll see if he can run over people like Greg."

Despite the loss of All-American Bruce Hocker, the receiving corps appears to be in good hands with Alex Roberson expected to provide the big plays.

The marquee players on defense will be lineman Mykol Gardiner, who had 7.5 sacks last season, and cornerback Aaron Strader, who had four interceptions.

"We feel we can be competitive in the NEC right away," Schmitt said. "We're going to go after it."