Lehigh Football Nation

(Photo Credit: The Baltimore Sun) It's a huge day, with the long-anticipated preseason matchup today between the NFL's New York Jets and Jacksonville Jaguars.  Lehigh alumni OG Will Rackley and WR Ryan Spadola will be showing the folks on the NFL Network how Lehigh football players play in the pros. Even this, though, does not stop the countdown. Today, our honored athlete is senior RB Keith Sherman , who is one of this year's co-captains and one of the two players I interviewed at Patriot League Media Day .

It may be 21 days until the start of Lehigh's football season, but there's plenty of football on TV for Lehigh fans to get excited about tonight. For all the information you need on catching LB Billy Boyko, OG Will Rackley and WR Ryan Spadola this weekend, just check below the flip.

A week after Lehigh plays on national TV (CBS Sports Network) against Joe Moorhead 's Fordham squad, head coach Andy Coen will find his team, once again, making the trek to New York City to play football. They'll be playing Fordham's cross-town Rival Columbia, who is led by head coach Pete Mangurian , on NBC Sports Network, as a part of the Ivy League's conference TV package with them. For Lehigh, it will be two big national media appearances in the media capital of the world in consecutive weeks. And like the Fordham game, it might not be as easy as people might believe.

(Photo Credit: USA Today ) The Lehigh football season starts in 22 days.  Incredible but true. At no. 22, we find  sophomore RB D.J. Kee  as our highlighted Lehigh football athlete in today's countdown.

(Photo Credit: Matt Smith /Lehigh Valley Live) We are getting so close now we can all taste it. Thankfully for all of us, our next honoree, senior FS Tyler Ward , has a great impact picture from Lehigh's last game of 2012 - versus Lafayette, of course - to carry us through to the Big Day 23 days away.

(Photo Credit: Stephen Flood / The Express-Times ) We're to 24 short, short days, until the beginning of the Lehigh football season. At no. 24, we find  sophomore DB Russhon Philips  as our highlighted Lehigh football athlete in today's countdown.

In 2010, Fordham limped to a 1-10 record, ending head coach Tom Masella 's time as head coach on Rose Hill. In the offseason, outgoing active athletic director Frank McLaughlin introduced Fordham's next head coach, Joe Moorhead , and exclaimed to all present, "This is not a rebuilding program.  We expect to be successful this coming year." After turning things around to the tune of a 6-5 record this past season, few would argue that first-time head coach Moorhead was indeed a large success last season, allowing the Rams to put their 1-10 season well in their rear-view mirror. For the Rams, the challenge will now be to increase their win total again, and return to the FCS playoffs.

We're to 25 days to the start of the football season! At no. 25, we find  junior DB Paul Schroeder  as our highlighted Lehigh football athlete in today's countdown.

(Photo Credit: Gwinn Davis Photos ) I would like to pause here and just say how rewarding it has been to go through the roster and, in a way, "get to know" each and every Mountain Hawk on the 2013 roster.  It not only makes the summer go by faster, it also, in a tiny way, allows you to know every story involved with the program, not just one or two stars. Today At no. 26, we honor incoming  freshman DB Brandon Leaks .