The emails started arriving in Jack Cosgrove’s inbox early in the week. Each one says basically the same thing. Good luck this weekend, because this is one of the BIG GAMES.

On Saturday, Colby hosts Bates in the game that kicks off the annual Colby-Bates-Bowdoin rivalry series. The Mules are the defending champions.

“There’s a lot of meaning to this game. Guys are telling me how important this game is,” Cosgrove, in his second season as Colby’s head football coach, said after Thursday morning’s practice. “To here, it’s Auburn-Alabama. It’s got the state of Maine ownership, the rights to the state of Maine, kind of thing. It’s that rivalry game. We, in a special way, get to have two of them. It’s that type of game and that type of magnitude.”

The series begins Saturday with Bates and Colby, and continues next weekend with Bowdoin at Bates. It concludes on Nov. 9 with Colby at Bowdoin.

The longtime coach at the University of Maine, Cosgrove unretired to take the Colby job last season. It was his first experience with the CBB rivalry, and Cosgrove quickly learned the rivalry’s importance with alumni and fans.

“I really was a rookie. Everybody who’s been associated with (the CBB) really gets a strong feeling from the alumni. The season within a season is really special. You don’t really get impacted until you live it. Living with our players last year, it was special to them and very special to the alumni. You realize how impactful this game is and how important it is,” Cosgrove said.

Both Colby and Bates enter Saturday’s game searching for their first win of the season.

“This is a team that’s gotten better each week,” Cosgrove said of Bates. “It’s what we feel we’ve done, but both teams have nothing to show for it. This is an opportunity to get a W, to reward your work efforts. It’s going to be a battle.”

Cosgrove compared Bates quarterback Brendan Costa to Williams quarterback Bobby Maimaron, in that he’s a threat to run or throw. Costa has 741 passing yards and 173 rushing.

“I think Costa can really throw the football. They challenge you offensively with a lot of formations, sets, and personnel groupings and plays. Defensively, they really play great team defense,” Cosgrove said.

Despite Costa’s talent, the Bobcats average just 10 points per game. Offensively, Colby is searching for consistency in the run game. The Mules average a New England Small College Athletic Conference worst 86.8 yards per game on the ground.

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The CBB is a chance for all three schools to close the season on a positive note. Since the start of the 2016 season, neither Colby, Bates, nor Bowdoin has had much success against the rest of the NESCAC. The teams are a combined 4-74 against the conference’s other seven teams over that span.

Of the three, Colby has had the most success against the rest of the league, going 3-23. The Mules earned a victory over Hamilton last season, and wins over Williams and Hamilton in 2016. Bates is 1-25, the win coming over Williams in 2016.

In these four seasons, Bowdoin has yet to beat an opponent not named Colby or Bates. The Polar Bears are 0-26 against the rest of the NESCAC in that span. Bowdoin’s last win against the rest of the league came in 2015, over Hamilton.

All three schools have one more crack at a win over a non-Maine opponent this season. Bowdoin hosts Middlebury (6-0) Saturday afternoon. While Bates and Bowdoin play each other in Lewiston next week, Colby will host Tufts (3-3). In the final week of the season, Bates will play at Hamilton (3-3).

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Husson will look to rebound from its first Commonwealth Coast Conference loss, a 31-21 loss to in-state rival University of New England, at home Saturday against Endicott.

The Gulls lead the conference with a 3-0 league mark, and are 5-1 overall.

Gardiner Area High School graduate Kaleb Caron, a junior linebacker, has 24 tackles for Husson (2-4, 2-1), including a pair of sacks and four tackles for a loss. Junior receiver Tyler Halls of Lisbon leads the Eagles with 44 catches for 563 yards and three touchdowns.

Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242

tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com

Twitter: TLazarczykMTM