To say the 2013 Central Michigan schedule has been a whirlwind might be an understatement. Fresh off three straight road games, the Chippewas hosted Northern Illinois at home on October 19th…and then wait 18 days to play their next game when they travel to Muncie, Indiana to take on Ball State.

With time to heal, Enos gave his squad Monday off from practice and the Chippewas should be refreshed heading into their Wednesday matchup vs. the Cardinals on ESPN2.

"We took a few days and went on the road recruiting as a staff, and used that time here with our players to get focused on lifting weights, running and academics. Really using those as the priorities this past week. We've had a couple of practices as well, trying to get back to the fundamentals and basics, and then starting to implement our gameplan for the Ball State game that is still a week and a half away. This week we will get back to more on the field stuff and our guys have a good little break, but we are ready to get back to work."

"Yeah I think some of the younger guys need it. You go from high school to college, and certainly the pace and the grind picks up. I think the bye week during the season is always helpful. The thing is, when you have the extended time that we have, we just want to make sure we are focused on the task at hand and continue to have a sense of urgency for our next football game. What we have done is try to use this time to work with our younger players more. A little bit more practice and spending more time with them because when you have short weeks in trying to get ready for opponents, the young guys are the ones getting short changed. Just in the techniques and fundamentals of what you are trying to do."

"The closer we get to the game, the easier it is to get our guys focused, especially with the opponent we have coming up in Ball State."

"We very much welcome the extra time to prepare, and they are going to have some extra time to prepare for us as well. They are a very, very good football team. Very impressive as you watch them in all three phases and obviously it will be a big challenge."